I would not say that I "rely" on air fresheners, but I ventilation fans in our bathrooms which clear the air pretty well. I keep a can of air freshener in our guest bath in case it would make them more comfortable, but I don't think anyone has ever used it.

... but I HAVE ventilation fans ...
Sorry :)

Some natural odors are not pleasing. Artificial odors mixed with natural odors are doubly not pleasing.

If a bathroom is scrubbed well with pine-sol I'd rather smell that than strawberry vanilla wheatfields.

Air fresheners trigger my asthma, and have been linked in some studies to other lung issues. I hate a bad-smelling bathroom, believe me, but I'd rather cover my nose than grab my inhaler. (And most of those fake air fresheners smell so odd, so very fake...)

i like Lemon Mate and Orange Mate. they smell subtle, but they are effective.

Matches. Not in public places, but at home.

I agree with matches too ... also at home I like these really cheap honeydew candles from the corner store. It's a soft scent, not overpowering.

I like air fresheners like Oust or something where it's not as overpowering. They have an auto air freshener in our work rest room, and it's so nasty. though, it's nasty when there's no air freshener too!

Plain White Vinegar works well at getting rid of odors. I keep an open jar in various places where smells may occur (like near the catbox, in my boys' bathroom). It doesn't get rid of or cover up a new smell right when it happens, but it effective over the long term. It also doesn't trigger allergies for my allergic friends.

Has anyone else ever noticed that the bathroom at The Modern smells ridiculously good, and not in an air freshener-y type way? Really, really bizarre. I should call and ask what they use...

And, yes, matches all the way. Supplemented by flowers on the side of the sink.

Matches ventilation at home. If it's a small enough office, why not matches as long as people are careful? (Aside from broadcasting to everyone what you just did in there! : ) What is a good solution to shared restrooms? Because our office has that gross wall stinky spray stuff, and it doesn't help; just smells fruity.

incense!

I used to work with a person who had the smelliest digestive tract ever. I finally realized if you spray the air freshener directly into the toilet bowl, the odor will go away.

I bought a product called "Just a Drop" as a gag gift for a friend who is really into the match technique for odor control. Turns out the stuff really works!!

You just put a drop in the toilet bowl first and it pretty much eliminates any resulting odors.

http://www.justadrop.net/

This is by far one of the funniest threads on apartmentherapy.

If your friends are anything like my friends, you want every possible tool at their disposal in that arena.

My airfreshener is homemade - in a small, clear spray bottle, cheap vodka and a few drops of whatever essential oil I want. Really, really works!

Ah, good thread. The million-dollar question is what do you do if you share an office with someone smelly? I am not a fan of the artificial layered over smelliness, but sometimes I'm ready to throw in the towel and hide air freshners under their desk!! Ugh!

I've actually taken to brewing a cup of earl grey tea and leaving it on my desk, so that the bergamot is a sort of scent barrier. :)

Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle. A slight smell for a few moment after, but nothing like the fake scent of air fresheners and it removes all odors from the air.

Our old intern was a bit obsessive about reducing office expenditure. Fine, admirable even, except she applied it to air freshener purchases too - cue immense aerosols of industrial lemon air freshener designed for spaces of more than 5000 sq ft. Our office was 100 sq ft and the toilets were about 4. It was fatal, especially because some of our clutzier colleagues used to spraaaaaaaaaaaay and then spraaaaaaaaaaaaaay again and then spraaay spraaay spraaaay. Spray. Yep, think that fart has curled up and died now, you can stop....

Streaming eyes, sore throat, borderline hysteria.... and every time we hid them, she'd go and buy a new one. We now have a new intern and new, larger offices but the toxic lemon clouds continued. One day last month I cracked and chucked them all in the bin, even though they were almost full and it went against all my waste/recycling beliefs. We had about a week of relief. The new intern has now bought industrial ginormous air freshener... in mint. Agh.

Go matches.

Not enough people use courtesy flushes to help curb odors. Maybe put a sign on the door? :)

Speaking of "courtesy flush", here's something similar to "Just a Drop"....

It's called, "Courtesy Flush".

http://www.courtesyflush.com/

But yes, matches seem to be the most effective.

AT can be very "dignified" ... until the subject of anything to do with personal habits in our bathrooms.... what a scream !

Since I live alone, the only time I consider it is when I host a dinner party or something - then I light a scented candle in the bathroom, which creates a pleasant atmosphere for my guests. It solves the odor problem and also makes it easier for guests to locate my bathroom which is down a long, long hallway.