# Lighting a match in the bathroom **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200 "2004-03-30T00:02:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/1 "2004-03-30T00:02:10Z")
What is the idea behind lighting a match in the bathroom to get rid of the smell? I assume it’s not to burn off the methane, as the methane will have dissapated throughout the room. And a tiny little flame ain’t gonna cover it all. And the flame does nothing to cover the smell. It seems to me that once you blow out the match, the smokey sulfur smell covers the odor. Is that the idea? So should the saying really should be “Jeez, somebody blow out a match!” ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/2 "2004-03-30T00:13:03Z")
It is the burning of the sulfur that does the job of killing the odor. Blowing out the match only saves your finger from getting burnt. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/3 "2004-03-30T00:16:07Z")
Disagree. The smoke after extinguishing the match does much, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/4 "2004-03-30T01:22:42Z")
Methane has no smell, which is why malodorous compounds (e.g. _tert_-butyl mercaptan) are added to natural gas so that it can be detected by smell. I’m sure the chemical composition of bathroom odors has been discussed in another thread. (Searches will be left as an exercise to the reader.) Clearly the match just covers up the smell with the usual sulfur/phosphorus burnt-match odor. I don’t think there’s anything special about match-smoke that makes it effective for covering up bathroom odors. It’s also a fire hazard, though I suppose a very special episode of _King of the Hill_ has done much to help protect America’s children from the danger of lighting matches in bathrooms. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/5 "2004-03-30T02:02:18Z")
I provide a can of Glade so that the bathroom at work can always be minty fresh. However, there is a very cute young lady who insists on doing the match thing. Then, she insists on pointing out to me and her co-workers that she has lit a match in the bathroom. She goes out of her way to walk out of the bathroom waving the recently extinquished match. I guess she feels she is “warning” everyone to stay out for a while. Bleeech. TMI. And she is soooooo cute… ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/6 "2004-03-30T05:40:00Z")
And I thought all the good Straight Dope questions had been asked… ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/7 "2004-03-30T09:27:18Z")
Big WAG: I assumed it worked because you’re making a small amount of activated charcoal which mops up the smell molecules. Maybe? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/8 "2004-03-30T16:48:24Z")
so btw, the smell of a burned matchstick is rather erm, nice. it is bad for you? ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/9 "2004-03-31T00:51:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Disagree. The smoke after extinguishing the match does much, IMO. Yes, the sulfurous odor from the smoke upon extinquishing the match is what covers your perception of the foul odor molecules… called _scatole_ and _indole_. [note1] You’re not doing anything to the smell, you’re just adding a new smell that dominates the olfactory response. [note 1] Yes, those are the same word roots as _scatological_ and _indolent_. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/10 "2004-03-31T01:01:00Z")
Some people really like the smell of burned matches. I knew a guy who actually carried matches so that he could light them and smell their burnedness. But then he got distracted once and smelled the match \* while it was on fire.\* He lost some nose hairs to that one. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-a-match-in-the-bathroom/237200/11 "2004-03-31T05:17:24Z")
I couldn’t find a **cite** for my contention concerning the sulfur, but I note that nobody has given a **cite** for any of the other contentions either.