A common feature of the modern electronic bidet toilet seat is the built-in air deodorizer. Provided that your bidet has an air deodorizer, it can usually be found on the side of the unit. A common question we get is what scents are the air deodorizers available in? Strawberry? Orange? The answer is that bidet seat air deodorizers don’t come in any scent. That’s because they don’t smell.

When people think of deodorizers, the common thought is that they mask unwanted odor with a more pleasant scent. However, your bidet toilet seat is much more advanced. Your bidet actually adsorbs odor, instead of masking it!

An active carbon filtration system is what makes your toilet bidet seat’s air deodorizer work. The activated carbon is treated with oxygen, which opens millions of small pores in the carbon. Then, a chemical process known as adsorption occurs as outside air passes through the filter. Not to be confused with "absorption," adsorption is when the atomic charge of carbon actually forces unwanted odors to abandon their bond with outside air. This results in contaminated air passing through the filter, and cleaned air coming out.

The next question then, is how does outside air get treated if the carbon filtration system is inside the bidet? The deodorizer wouldn’t work very well unless you had decent air circulation going through the toilet bidet seat. That’s why your bidet seat’s air deodorizer is built with an intake fan which sucks outside air through the filtration system.

To locate your toilet bidet seat’s air deodorizer, look for a series of small vents on the side of your bidet. The vents are actually part of a cartridge system that holds the activated carbon. Remove the cartridge and inside you’ll see the dark grey carbon filter. These filters can be replaced, and easily re-inserted back into the bidet.

These air deodorizers are actually pretty effective, and a nice alternative to the aerosol based deodorizers which are common in bathrooms. And they’re particularly useful for folks who are sensitive to the manufactured smell found in many conventional deodorizers.

It’s recommended that you replace your carbon air deodorizer filter every four to six months.