Boy do I know your problem! I live in a communal house with my husband and two friends and we also go by the "yellow let it mellow" montra. My suggestion is to only let it mellow for 3 rounds, otherwise it starts to get extremely stinky. As far as cleaning, I clean the toillet on a weekly bases and use the 7th generation cleaning supplies. Good luck!

We have the same problem! It drives me crazy and makes me feel like we are gross or dirty people... We just bought the hydro right dual toilet flusher thing. It's supposed to be an easy retrofit to any toilet, but we haven't installed it yet. It puts a new flushing button on the outside of the tank that enables you to use a single flush for "number 1" and a double flush for "number 2". I'm hoping this helps. Although we'll still try and see if we can let it "mellow" for two or three times...

JaclynS - We have that! Ours has a handle (pull forward for 1, push towards the wall for 2) and it was really easy to install and use.

I live alone and I have a 2 round rule. Realistically, it starts to smell and as a male, there's backsplash to worry about. So 2 rounds w/o flushing is it for me. But I've also got a new low flow toilet, so it's pretty efficient anyway.

Try only letting it mellow at night?

I only wait to flush when I've gotten up during the night (which started out simply because it's noisy in a small apartment) and then it gets flushed after its first use in the morning. No smelly problems yet.

Maybe the cooler air and lack of sunlight keep things from getting stinky. My bathroom gets a lot of direct afternoon sunlight, and I'm sure it would smell gross in there if there was any daytime mellowing. :-P

We have the same problem so what I've done is not allowed the urine to sit overnight. If it does, it stains the toilet bowl. I also keep baking soda handy in a shaker bottle (such as a glass sugar container) and will shake some into the toilet bowl a few days out of the week, give it a quick scrub and let it sit until the next flush. For my thorough cleaning, I use ONLY vinegar and baking soda - it works better than anything I've ever tried and is non-toxic. With the maintenance, and not allowing the urine to sit overnight, I've noticed a HUGE difference!

Also, your urine shouldn't be too stinky or icky if you're drinking enough fluids (such as good ol' water). If it's overly yellow and pungent, you're dehydrated. By drinking more water, you may have to "go" more, but it will "cleaner" and therefore less icky. :)

@greenecochick: agreed about the urine stink. I didn't grow up "letting it mellow", so it's not a habit of mine. the exception is when my pee is so clear (because I've been drinking a lot of water) that I think, "what a waste to flush! I'll let that one mellow"

Agreed, drinking a lot of water does contribute to more trips to the loo, but there's MUCH less smell & color to worry about. With 2 of us mellowing in the house, we find that a weekly scrub does the trick.

Yes, do *not* let it sit over night! That is what I've found to be the worst! 2 or 3 uses seem to be our limit.

I really should just clean my toilet more.... ugh.

Let it mellow when it's yellow. Flush it down when it's brown.

I guess I'm one of those "drink a lot of water and pee a lot" types--though I don't drink *that* much water--since it never smells, even though I usually pee 4-5 times before I flush. I typically flush once per day on a weekday when I'm at work for a large part of the day. At the risk of providing TMI, I wait to flush all that pee until right after I've added a #2 to it in the morning before work OR when there is enough toilet paper from pee wiping in there that I'm concerned about clogging it up if I don't go ahead and flush. Although I guess if I were going to go more green, I would only use TP for #2...Oh yeah, and I never have stains that won't go away with a swipe of a bowl brush.

Also, my office building just installed dual mode flushers on its toilets, but so far I've found that the #1 flush leads to regurgitation of shredded toilet paper. I realize that isn't super gross, but the next person doesn't really want to see remnants of the last person's visit to the toilet, even if it does just look like soggy, shredded white toilet paper. Perhaps another good reason to stop using TP for a simple #1...?

Just get some of those corrosive bleach things that sit in the tank and turn the water blue. The bleach should cut down on your smell issue.