Expert: Profile Closed - 12/28/2009

Question
Hello again! I asked a question about this particular topic and I'm letting you know how everything went. My fragrances turned out okay afterall! You were right, it was the lingering smells and the fact that I was smelling them on contact. Thank you very much for sharing your amazing amazing knowledge with me! I am very pleased! Take care and Happy Holidays!

PS I clean my bathroom weekly but within that week, of course it remains clean for only 2 or 3 days because of the fact that it is constantly used by family members etc. Do you think that the unpleasant odors present and/or released from the feces and urine that linger, or are more dominant when the bathroom is in use, will have any negative affect on my fragrances? Thanks again! Sorry if this question is a bit repulsive but hey, that's science for ya :)  

Answer
Hello, and thanks for letting me know the results of your experiments; I'm pleased your fragrances are still ok and happy to have been of assistance.

With respect to the second question, a similar logic to that of the first will apply, in that odors shouldn't have any effect on stored fragrances, but will have a significant impact on fragrances that are worn or applied there. Both urine and feces produce complex biological odors as the result of microbiological breakdown of waste products in the body, and these tend to overpower sense receptors in the nose, so you're unable to smell the fragrance of a perfume etc separately, and you just get a horrible mix!

In our house, we similarly clean the bathroom once a week, but we also give it a daily surface-clean with  a mildly-scented antibacterial cleaner, and we've found that this is a great way of ensuring that the atmosphere in the bathroom remains pleasant! The idea of using an antibacterial is that - as you will know - the bathroom isn't "dirty" after one day of use, and there is little visible evidence of a need for cleaning, but the antibacterial agent removes tiny traces of material that would otherwise be sat causing odors. For instance, whenever someone flushes the toilet, the initial blast of water throws up a cloud of invisibly small droplets of water and whatever else is in the loo; these land on surfaces all over the bathroom, still too small to see...but not too small to smell! Five minutes' wiping over surfaces makes a huge difference to providing a pleasant, neutral background that makes the best environment for bringing out the fragrance of perfumes and so on.

Hope this helps, again, follow-ups are very welcome! Best wishes for a happy, healthy 2010 from all the Maxwell family :-)