Are Homemade Toilet Tank Deodorants A Good Idea, Or A Disaster Waiting To Happen?

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Nobody likes to deal with a stinky toilet. Whether you're having guests over or just want to enjoy a bit of peace at home, a fresh-smelling toilet is a non-negotiable. Because cleaning the toilet is no one's favorite task, some people have tried to find clever hacks and workarounds to keep their toilets smelling and looking fresh without having to use gloves and elbow grease. However, homemade toilet tank deodorants might be more trouble than they're worth.

The DIY toilet tank deodorant that's going around social media lately consists of grating a bar of soap and mixing it with toothpaste to create a paste. Then, users create small balls with the paste and wrap them up in aluminum foil. Before dropping the aluminum balls into the toilet tank, they poke small holes into it. The idea is that the mixture will release into the water and pour down the toilet, releasing a fresh smell with each flush. However clever this might sound, it's actually not recommended to place any DIY cleaning solutions into your toilet tank. When it comes to toilets and their complicated mechanisms, it's best to stick to commercial or plumber-approved natural cleaning solutions like white vinegar and baking soda. 

Logically speaking, this makes sense. Soap can kill some bacteria and toothpaste has a minty, fresh odor. However, this hack is not quite plumber-approved. Putting things in the toilet tank is a surefire way to get them stuck into the flushing flapper or toilet pipes, and removing them isn't easy. This is true for a small aluminum foil ball, and other iterations of this hack like placing a bar of soap in your toilet or dropping a tube of toothpaste into the toilet tank. 

If you've ever taken some time to think about how your flush works, you'll notice that the anatomy of a toilet is quite complex. There are many intricate parts including several valves, an overflow tube, and a handle that all work together to make the flush work properly. There is also a small part, called the flapper, that lifts thanks to a mechanism and allows water to flow from the tank and into the toilet.

The risk of placing small objects, like a DIY deodorant ball, into the tank is that they will get stuck. They could, for example, get into sneaky corners and prevent the valves from moving properly or the flapper from closing all the way. It's possible that you'll waste lots of water or that your tank won't refill properly. Another risk is that the deodorant ball will flow into the pipes, where it could clog. If your toilet trap becomes clogged, you're going to have to use a plunger or call a plumber, which is truly not worth the trouble, even for a fresh minty smell.

But don't worry, there are tons of other ways to make your toilet smell fresh, even without this DIY. First, if your toilet has a bad odor, it might be worth deep-cleaning the tank to remove the cause at the source. To do this, you can use a natural cleaner made of white vinegar or baking soda and a bit of liquid dish soap. Using a brush, clean the sides of the toilet tank and let the solution sit for a few hours before flushing a few times.

If that's not enough, consider some commercially available deodorizers for toilets. For example, you can buy a Kiisiiso Toilet Bowl Cleaner that's big enough that it won't risk getting stuck into any mechanisms. The same brand also sells Toilet Bowl Cleaner Tablets, which fully dissolve into the water in 20 minutes and won't risk causing any clogs or internal toilet damage. 

Finally, if the bad smell persists despite your efforts to keep the toilet clean, consider what other deeper issues could be causing it. For example, bad smells can happen when dealing with damaged pipes, issues with the sewer lines, and old or poorly done wax toilet seals. For these, it's best to speak directly with a professional plumber to get their opinion.