# Phew! Somebody light a match! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 1999, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phew-somebody-light-a-match/2717 "1999-08-23T00:17:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leslie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@Leslie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leslie)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phew-somebody-light-a-match/2717/1 "1999-08-23T00:17:00Z")
What is it about lighting a match that gets rid of the stinky smell after somebody farts or takes a dump? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phew-somebody-light-a-match/2717/2 "1999-08-23T00:21:00Z")
Never tried that one. Does it work? Probably the sulphur smell overpowers the noxious odors. Any, thanks for the tip. Peace, mangeorge * * * Work like you don’t need the money… Love like you’ve never been hurt… Dance like nobody’s watching! …(Paraphrased) ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phew-somebody-light-a-match/2717/3 "1999-08-23T01:30:00Z")
Perhaps one way in which it could help is by providing the EA (Energy of Activation) necessary for methane, a hydrocarbon, and oxygen. * * * There is no safety for honest men but by believing all possible evil of evil men. –Edmund Burke ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phew-somebody-light-a-match/2717/4 "1999-08-23T01:43:00Z")
threemae, I think you lost part of your sentence and I think mangeorge is right. ---
**Author:** ![Leslie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@Leslie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leslie)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phew-somebody-light-a-match/2717/5 "1999-08-23T01:57:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Probably the sulphur smell overpowers the noxious odors. Could be. 'Course the implication that sulphur is not a noxious odor is kinda funny. * * * I think you’re _smarter_ than a dumb slug. - Christopher A. Evans ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phew-somebody-light-a-match/2717/6 "1999-08-23T02:13:00Z")
I’ve done this, works with a candle or lighter as well. The noxious odors in question are either methane or dissolved/suspended in the methane. Light a fire & those odors are burned away. OK, that’s something of a WAG, but I do know it works with any flame. (My ex-husband wouldn’t let me do that around him because he was afraid it would blow up! Of course, he thought your cuticles would overgrow your nails if you didn’t push them back regularly. I blame all incorrect statements I’ve made on him!) ---
**Author:** ![Undead\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Undead\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead_Dude)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phew-somebody-light-a-match/2717/7 "1999-08-23T02:26:00Z")
The methane itself wouldn’t matter as it is odorless. If any additional noxious vapor material had been dissolved in methane, that wouldn’t come to matter much, as it would now be dissolved the air, just as the methane would be. In any case, I suspect that the methane is irrelevant. I never tried it myself, thinking that it was a myth based on the fact that people know that these things are potentially flammable. So, trusting others in saying that it does work, I can only think that it would kinda circulate the nearby air through the flame, and perhaps break down some lingering whatever. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 1999, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phew-somebody-light-a-match/2717/8 "1999-08-23T03:24:00Z")
Truth is, zyada, he was proud of his accomplishments and didn’t want you ruining them. We men are like that. **Proud!** 🙂 Peace, mangeorge