The Smelly Throne

Some topics are best left not talked about, but somehow people manage to talk about them anyway. This may be one of those times. Any types with extra super sensitive tummies may want to leave the room.

Now that the sissies have exited the building, I'll say that today, we're going to talk about toilets. Yes, there is no stone which I won't lift up and discuss what is crawling beneath it.

I'm a very clean person as is my husband. Despite the lack of gratification in the process, I clean the bathroom about once a week if I can possibly manage it. I'm not sure how often a person is supposed to pour toxic chemicals into the commode and swish them around, but I figure once a week ought to be fairly reasonable.

Needless to say, my toilet is clean. In the summer, unfortunately, that doesn't mean it is always "fresh" smelling. When it gets hot and incredibly muggy, whatever bacteria or as they're referred to scientifically, "stink particles", that cause that "toilet" smell seem to go into hyper-drive and no matter how much I scrub and clean (with special attention given to under the rim), a vague smell of eau de toilet is present, often just hours after a cleaning. Since I detest artificial air fresheners and believe adding chemical "positive" smells to bad smells only creates a highly unpleasant funk that may eventually give you brain cancer, covering the scent with chemicals is not an option.

I've tried those hocky-puck like cleaning disks that you put in the back of the tank, but have had a disastrous experience with one. As chronicled in my former blog, one of them melted into a blob of goop then slid into the plug and left the toilet running through constantly. The fun that ensued as a result of this encounter with such a disk is chronicled in a story here. Needless to say, the consequences of using one of those things has put me off of using them forever. I don't even know if it would have helped.

Note the handy-dandy spout on the back of the tank the pours into a basin with a hole in it in the tank back. Also, note how inelegantly the plumbing was punched through the wall on the left. It's like someone just shoved the pipe through and didn't even try to drill or create an elegant hole. That's some craftsmanship.

Recently, I've started taking advantage of the hand wash basin integrated into the back of the toilet. I can't do this all year because the water is freezing cold when it's not monstrously hot outside, but I can do it in summer. I made this move to further my efforts to save water. I put a container of liquid hand soap on the tank to use for this purpose. The soapy waste water goes into the toilet tank and is used for flushing. Little did I know that this was going to kill two birds with one stone. After I started washing my hands, the smell problem disappeared. The small amount of soap which gets into the tank water appears to be enough to neutralize the odor issue that occurs in the summer.

The neatness with which making an environmentally sound choice to change my behavior solved this problem is oddly pleasing. It's as if I've had a very rare experience with karma giving me an instant reward for good behavior.