How Do Bidets Reduce Bad Smells

If you’ve ever heard the phrase “that guy’s so arrogant he thinks his own poop doesn’t stink”, you’ve probably thought it was ridiculous. But maybe that guy just happens to have a bidet toilet seat with a scent deodorizer.

How does a bidet reduce the foul smell of poop? Many bidet toilet seats have a deodorizing system built into them. These systems have a fan under the toilet seat that pulls air from within the toilet bowl and into a deodorizing chamber. In this chamber, scent molecules are destroyed by an activated carbon filter rendering them unable to produce scent.

These systems work quite well even though they are not perfect. Below is a little more information about how these wonderful systems work.

Carbon Filters

The key component in these odor eating bidet systems is the carbon filter. These can also be referred to as activated charcoal filters. Basically these are a grid of material called activated carbon or activated charcoal. The grid is small enough that the vast majority of the air, and subsequently the smelly chemicals, come in contact with this carbon material. Upon contact the smelly particles are chemically altered to a different molecule that does not smell.

The system is not perfect for two reasons. First, not all of the air comes in contact with the carbon material. Some of the air makes it through the grid without touching the grid. Second, there is a gap between the toilet bowl and the toilet seat. So it’s pretty easy for some of the air in the bowl to make it out of the bowl without going through the scent fan.

How Effective

These little scent killing cartridges are pretty effective at getting rid of your stank. I wouldn’t say it’s 100% effective. You’re significant other is still going to know you were in the bathroom if they go in right after you do your worst. But if you have the bidet deoderizer going along with a bathroom fan then it should be about 80% effective. That’s based on my highly skilled sniffer anyway.

Replacing the Carbon Filter

The carbon filter that comes with your bidet should last for more than a year. But eventually you will notice that it isn’t working like it used to. When this happens it will be an indicator that you need to get a new carbon filter. The manufacturer of your bidet may even recommend a replacement schedule.

The replacement filter for my bidet is only $12. So these things are not that expensive. And they are simple to replace. They are usually housed is a plastic tray that slides in and out of the side of the bidet.

Preventive Maintenance

There isn’t much you need to do to maintain these filters. However, it is a good idea to pull the cartridge out every 3 – 4 months and just make sure there isn’t a bunch of debris clogged up on the filter that would prevent airflow through the cartridge. My recommendation is to wear gloves when doing this. Otherwise, there isn’t really any maintenance to do with these.

If the internal fan that pulls air out of the tank and sends it through the carbon filter fails to come on then you should contact the manufacturer and see what they say. It’s not likely that this is going to be an easy fix you can just do at home. But the manufacturer can help you troubleshoot the problem.

The Bottom Line

The scent deodorizer is a really nice feature on these new toilet seat bidets. They are suprisingly effective at eliminating foul odors. They require very little maintenance and are cheap to replace when they lose their odor fighting ability.