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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to expect air freshener in toilets when visiting friends?

683 replies

HangryBrickShark · 09/09/2026 23:11

Is there an expectation that people's toilets should have an air freshener in? Like a spray air freshener?

We always have air freshener in both our toilets in case friends or family get caught short when visiting us or even to freshen the bathroom after having a wee if necessary, so I hate it if I go to a friend/family members house and they have none.

I get some people may be affected by asthma but surely if you had asthma you wouldn't use it?

We have a glade air freshener at work that sprays into the space where the wash handbasins are for example.

OP posts:
HundredAcreOwl · 10/09/2026 01:13

isitfridayyetttt · 09/09/2026 23:20

Some people love the smell of their own poo it seems.

Some people don't want a coughing fit! Lighting a match can help.

Girlking · 10/09/2026 01:18

JoyousWriter · 10/09/2026 01:07

What's a press?

Show quote history

A press is a cupboard in Ireland!

Calliopespa · 10/09/2026 01:30

HangryBrickShark · 09/09/2026 23:36

We're on holiday at the moment and stopping in a large caravan with two loos, and not having anyone visit. But we have an air freshener in each toilet that we brought from home. I hate toilet smells.

For those that say their shit doesn't smell, are you serious??? Of course it does! 😅

Edited

It shouldn't linger that long after being flushed. Maybe if you have a stomach bug or something, but generally speaking it is gone fairly quickly, especially if you open the window.

I find the smell of air freshener like a descant over the top of a base note of stink quite stomach-churning. It doesn't disguise it, just forms a kind of chorus.

I don't mind a room scent or diffuser like the Diptique or Jo Malone ones, but those are for scenting neutral rooms and I don't think they are intended to meld with fecal notes.

You sometimes smell people on the tube who smell of sweat or body odour, then they have this sickly whiff of scent layered over it, clearly intending to disguise the underlying pong - and it doesn't work!

BrezhnevsLuxuriantEyebrows · 10/09/2026 01:32

WithLoveFromMyselfToYourself · 09/09/2026 23:21

Are you in advertising? 😂

Show quote history

"The final word in masking turd"

"If your Eartha is a stencher, treat your nose to a scent adventure"

"When you've gotta drop an otter, be a sweetie, not a rotter"

Autumnallaround · 10/09/2026 01:34

I worked in a woolworths in the 90s where several of the customers reeked.

I would have chosen the reek over the smell of the air freshener that the manager used to use after they left.

Air freshener is an abomination. As are those electric diffusers. And plug in air freshener. And scented candles in a lot of cases. We simply open a window.

watchingthishtread · 10/09/2026 01:38

Air fresheners smell worse than what they're masking and they just draw attention to the problem.

Ponderingwindow · 10/09/2026 01:52

I am anaphylactic allergic to some synthetic fragrances and mildly allergic to others. We don’t allow fragrance products in our home.

Spraying them in public is antisocial and dangerous. They do not belong in the workplace.

HelenaWaiting · 10/09/2026 02:37

hotmumshit · 09/09/2026 23:13

Yanbu tbh

Theres this tiktokker who i love and think is amazing, but she refuses to have a toilet brush! I'm like, what if someone (usually a man) has no choice but to poop in your toilet and finds he cant clean it?! 😩😩😩

Toilet brushes are extremely unhygienic.

Sereine · 10/09/2026 02:55

We do fine with good ventilation.

MyCrushWithEyeliner · 10/09/2026 02:58

Of course someone on here has claimed their shit doesn’t stink! Sure…

Anon501178 · 10/09/2026 03:03

I use scented toilet roll to make the bathrooms smell nice

Bouncywaves · 10/09/2026 03:07

We keep a box of matches and open the window. Air freshener is a last resort.

ChocolateCinderToffee · 10/09/2026 03:11

Yuck no.

I’ve got a reed diffuser and an open window in mine. Haven’t got a loo brush🤢 or a bin either (am ten years post-menopause).

TripleSulko · 10/09/2026 03:29

Obimumkinobi · 09/09/2026 23:46

I'm with the PPs who dislike the smell of poo thinly (it is always thinly) veiled by an overpowering artificial scent. It's like a double whammy.
I'm also interested if the OP has a similar requirement for farts released outside of a bathroom? Are they sprayed too?

And that overwhelming fug in a caravan 🤢

MarieAntoinetteQueenOfFrance · 10/09/2026 03:54

MyCrushWithEyeliner · 10/09/2026 02:58

Of course someone on here has claimed their shit doesn’t stink! Sure…

Yep, my shit definitely doesn't stink!
It might smell a bit, but there isn't that lingering pong that you get from air freshener.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 10/09/2026 04:04

grumpygrape · 09/09/2026 23:16

Carry a box of matches with you. Brilliant for neutralising any nasty nifs.

Is there not a risk of an explosion from the toxic gases? 💥

Cherrytree86 · 10/09/2026 04:15

aterriblemiddleclassfanny · 09/09/2026 23:17

This.
It wouldn't ever occur to me.
I'm vegan which may make a difference but honestly other than the odd occasion where I've maybe been on holiday and eaten a lot of foods I wouldn't usually, you could go in the bathroom straight after I'd been for a number 2 and not smell anything.

Do you have bowel issues and/or a rubbish diet in your family? I'd understand why you'd have air freshener if so. But to expect others to always follow suit is unrealistic.

Show quote history

@aterriblemiddleclassfanny

your shit will smell. Vegan diet or not.

Cherrytree86 · 10/09/2026 04:17

HelenaWaiting · 10/09/2026 02:37

Toilet brushes are extremely unhygienic.

Show quote history

@HelenaWaiting

skids in the toilet aren’t great either.
I know which id prefer…

RastaMouse99 · 10/09/2026 04:31

hotmumshit · 09/09/2026 23:13

Yanbu tbh

Theres this tiktokker who i love and think is amazing, but she refuses to have a toilet brush! I'm like, what if someone (usually a man) has no choice but to poop in your toilet and finds he cant clean it?! 😩😩😩

I'm baffled as to why you think a man is more likely to need to poo..?! Especially considering your username @hotmumshit
We don't have air fresheners because we don't want random manmade chemicals flying around us any more than necessary.

BeethovenNinth · 10/09/2026 04:33

this is why the planet is fucked. We can’t even ablute without using some short chemical in an aluminium and plastic container for after

either I am weird or you are

isitfridayyetttt · 10/09/2026 04:37

Cherrytree86 · 10/09/2026 04:15

@aterriblemiddleclassfanny

your shit will smell. Vegan diet or not.

Show quote history

Vegans have the worst nuclear death shits.

Thegirlwhowent · 10/09/2026 04:41

LuckyTraybake · 09/09/2026 23:14

i totally get this!!

I would not want to use a bathroom for a poo if there was no air freshener!

I don’t think it’s weird at all! More weird to not care if people smell your toilet deposits imo🤣

Just open the window. The smell of air freshener just adds an extra layer of awfulness.

NiftyKoala · 10/09/2026 04:42

This is very weird.

Thegirlwhowent · 10/09/2026 04:43

ChocolateCinderToffee · 10/09/2026 03:11

Yuck no.

I’ve got a reed diffuser and an open window in mine. Haven’t got a loo brush🤢 or a bin either (am ten years post-menopause).

How do you clean the loo without a brush?

NeckMuscle · 10/09/2026 05:09

Air fresheners are a bit naff. Fresh air is better.