How do I get rid of the smell cleaning the bathtub with lysol + bleach

Ben Murphy
by Ben Murphy

Hi all, I'm in need of some advice to get rid of the after smell of cleaning with Clorox's Tilex with bleach and Lysol's Toilet Bowl cleaner with Hydrogen chloride. Asking for a friend. as we currently just have a fan and the window open but the smell is so pungent.


  14 answers
  • Janice Janice on Aug 12, 2022

    Try placing a bowl of baking soda OR white vinegar in the area and closing the door. Either one should help to eliminate the odors from the cleaning products.

  • Mogie Mogie on Aug 12, 2022

    1. Fresh Air

    The first thing you should try when getting rid of a bleach smell in a room is opening the windows. Fresh air may flush out the strong bleach smell. Not only will opening the windows allow the bleach particles to escape, but it will also let fresh, clean-smelling air in. To go a step further, open multiple windows and turn on a fan to help circulate the air.

    2. Baking Soda

    Baking soda is a natural odor eliminator. Fill a dish with about 1/2 cup baking soda and set it in the room you're cleaning — giving it a few hours to work its magic and absorb the bleach smell. This is an effective, natural way to get a bleach smell out of a room and it's a great option if you're cleaning a room that doesn't have any windows or ventilation to work with.

    3. Activated Charcoal

    Like baking soda, activated charcoal absorbs smells naturally. Activated charcoal is actually more effective at absorbing smells than baking soda, but you might have to take a special trip to a health food store to find it, while baking soda is likely already in your pantry. Use activated charcoal the same way you would use baking soda — place some in a dish and set it in the room. The bleach smell will be gone in a few hours.

    4. Vinegar

    Pour about a cup of white vinegar into a bowl and place it in the room you're trying to eliminate the bleach smell from. Shut the door and let the vinegar sit overnight. The bleach smell should be completely gone the next day, though the room may slightly smell of vinegar instead. The vinegar smell should go away on its own after an hour or so.


  • Open the window and put a fan in it - blowing out like an exhaust fan.

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Aug 12, 2022

    Keep flushing the toilet - that should sort that. Wipe the hand basin around with Floral Disinfectant.

  • Redcatcec Redcatcec on Aug 12, 2022

    Oh No, the 2 together form a gas called chlorine gas, even though you are not physically mixing them together, the fumes are reacting and forming a toxic environment. Please stop doing that before you have an emergency situation. Can you clean with 1 one day and the other the next. Or change cleaning products?

    People have suffered serious consequences from this.


    If you'd like to read further:


    https://wowsoclean.com/can-you-mix-lysol-and-bleach/

  • William William on Aug 12, 2022

    You mixed two products that should not have mixed. They created harmful fumes. Chlorine gas is heavier than air so the fumes linger at floor level. Best solution is have a fan in the window and one fan in the doorway. The fan in the doorway will force the chlorine gas off floor level while the one in the window will blow the air out. Before mixing any chemicals read the labels on the products or do some research online. DO NOT DO THIS AGAIN.

  • 17335038 17335038 on Aug 12, 2022

    While this tip does not directly address the specific cleaners that you used, it will help to make your ceiling exhaust fan more efficient in clearing the air in the room:


    Remove the plastic or metal grate cover from the ceiling exhaust fan and wash thoroughly in hot water. Vacuum inside the lip edges where the grate attaches back up on to the ceiling and as far up into the fan as possible.

  • Dee Dee on Aug 12, 2022

    Set out a bowl of vinegar, it will eliminate the smell. I actually clean my tub with vinegar and dawn and I also clean the potty with that solution..

    Heat up 1 cup of white vinegar, mix in about 1/4 cup of Dawn Premium. Not the dollar store kind, because it is too thin. When mixed, pour into a spray bottle and fill with water. Shake. Spray down the grout and let it sit overnight. In the morning rinse. If you have stubborn stains, spray again. Use this mixture a few times a week. It will keep your grout and tiles clean. Also works wonders in the toilet bowl to keep hard water stains at bay. Oh you only have to heat the vinegar one time when you add the Dawn.

  • Marion Nesbitt Marion Nesbitt on Aug 14, 2022

    Why are you using such products in the first place? There are lots of alternatives that will do a job without the toxic odours.

  • Cheryl A Cheryl A on Aug 14, 2022

    I hope you didn't mix these two cleaners together and one was used on shower and one on toilet! you need to run a fan or vent when using any cleaning products - it should go away within a day or two but you need well venilated rooms when using any cleaning products


  • Kathy Gunter Law Kathy Gunter Law on Aug 14, 2022

    Rinsing multiple applications and running a fan to pull the smell.

  • Honestly it’s just a matter of time to air out, unfortunately. I’d look into products without heavy scents.