Why does my electric toothbrush smell bad?
The horrid smell actually comes from the vibrating motor part located directly under the attachable head. Extensive scrubbing and antibacterial sprays fail to kill the germs trapped inside. This persistent stench makes it unbearable to put the brush anywhere near your nose.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Scrubbing the handle down with antibacterial sprays or soapDid this help you?
- 2Soaking the toothbrush handle in hydrogen peroxideDid this help you?
- 3Replacing the electric toothbrush entirelyDid this help you?
- 4Storing the body upside down and letting parts dry separatelyDid this help you?
- 5using an ozone machine in a small enclosed space like a box or closetDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“This beautiful brush made of genuine horsehair, I think, smells of old people home. Musky and smokey, I think.”source ↗
“It's trapped in the bristles, not the wood.”source ↗
“Since it is hair I thought about shampoo but I don't think the brush is meant to be wet.”source ↗
“Please, please, please give me some advice on how to properly clean my electric toothbrush I spent half an hour scrubbing it down yesterday and even used Dettol antibacterial spray to try to kill any germs, but it STILL smells absolutely horrid whenever I put it anywhere near my nose.”source ↗
“Oh yeah i forgot to mention its the vibrating motor part that smells. The thing under the attachable head.”source ↗
Where this came up
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