Bathrooms can look sparkling clean, but sometimes unwelcome lingering odors from your toilet persist, no matter how much air freshener you use. These scented sprays only last for a few minutes and can be harmful to your lungs, leading homeowners to turn to natural deodorisers. Surprisingly, people are turning to one common kitchen ingredient that can do the job, and no, it’s not lemons.

Taking to Instagram, a cleaning content creator known as Tanya Mukendi, aka the Queen Of Hacks, revealed five bathroom hacks, "you'll wish you knew sooner." The most surprising and unusual hack is that using grains of rice will keep yourbathroom fresh. Here’s how this simple trick that costs as little as 52p can eliminate smelly odours.

Tanya said: "Mix rice and essential oils together to freshen up your bathroom.

What you need

• Uncooked rice
• Essential oils

How to make it 

To begin, add 1/2 cup of rice and then add about 20 drops of essential oil. The blogger used jasmine rice, but suggests that any type will work.

For the essential oil, you can mix any scents together, such as 18 drops of pine and two drops of peppermint. Next, mix the rice and oils thoroughly so the scent spreads evenly.

Once it’s well combined, place it in your bathroom as a natural air freshener. Shake now and then to refresh the scent, and if it starts to fade, simply add a few more drops of oil.

Other ways to deodorise your bathroom

Within the Instagram reel, the cleaning creator placed a few drops of essential oil on the cardboard roll of toilet paper to keep the bathroom smelling fresh. Another cleaning hack is to use shaving foam on the bottom of your toilet.

This is to remove any lingering urine smell on your bathroom floor. Lastly, the creator advised pouring a capful of scented disinfectant into your toilet brush holder to keep it smelling fresh.