Poopourri is clever product that has been successful due to its concept and zany marketing. How it works: before you release your burdens into the porcelain god, you spray Poopourri into the bowl, being sure to coat the surface. The oily surface wraps around your baggage as it plops down, and the surface film reunites again to block your waste below, all the while releasing a refreshing bouquet of delightful smells upward toward your nose and the general vicinity. It’s like you were never there! This saves embarrassment if there are people who want to use the room after you have completed your business. If you haven’t yet seen any of the company’s videos, prepare to be entertained:
The ingredients in Poopouri do not include harsh chemicals and are therefore both safe to breathe and flush. The concoction consists of essential oils and natural compounds. Well, then, you should be able to make your own, if that is true. And in fact it is true, and you can do it much more cheaply.
Recipe:
Find a container for your DYI blend, preferably a dark glass container to prevent light from getting at the delicate perfumes. Find out how much it contains (leaving space at the top) and divide that amount by at least 8.
- 4 parts distilled water – boiling and cooling tap water is fine
- 2 parts rubbing alcohol (or 2x that amount of vodka)
- 1 part carrier oil (like avocado oil which has a light scent)
- 1 part vegetable glycerin (No glycerine? Add another part carrier oil OR try (scent-free) dish washing liquid or liquid hand soap- both acts as a surfactant.)
- about 20 drops of your blend of essential oils for each ounce of your mixture.
- (optional) food colouring (however much you want so as to be able to see it – you may want to know if you have the basin covered enough)
The recipe above can be tweaked. I’ve read different versions online, but they all have the same basic ingredients.
A surfactant, by the way (like soap or detergent), is a substance that emulsifies fats and oils, as well as absorbs odors such as sulphur. It keeps the bottle where the product is housed from clogging and the toilet bowl from getting an oily ring-around-the-bowl. It also keeps the plumbing pipes clean.
To use your own DIY poopourri, simply shake and spray (about 4 times, depending on size and power of your spray nozzle) into the bowl – forming a nice, even, greasy coating – before you go.
Now here’s the fun part for perfumistas: Try it with perfume instead of (or in addition to) essential oils! It’s one of many ways to make use of old or unwanted perfume. Using perfume is neither as potent or deodorizing (unless you use a lot), nor is it likely as safe for your sewage system as most essential oils, but it does work. How much you will need depends on the strength of the concentration. Oil-based perfumes are ideal. If you’re using an alcohol-based perfume, you’ll probably need less rubbing alcohol/vodka.
If you are on the go, you can decant your pooourri into small spray bottles, or small glass dropper bottles (recycle those bottles of e-liquid vapers use, recycle eyedropper bottles, or recycle skincare serum bottles). Spray bottle do disperse the product a lot better, but droppers can work as well.