Have you ever heard of Lysol? I hadn’t – not until I found this enlightening post over at bitchslapp. Lysol is the brand name of a line of disinfectants sold in America and Asia. It’s used to scrub down a dirty toilet pan and to rid the air of any nasty whiffs. It was also marketed in the 1920s as a product able to enhance marital relations - by being used as a feminine hygiene product.

Vaginal douching with a Lysol solution was believed to not only rid one of that fanny smell that many find so offensive, but it was also said to be an effective form of contraception. You can see from the ridgid, expressionless face on the after-shot of the woman below that maybe this wasn’t the best idea:

We all like to be clean - nobody wants to smell - but wasn’t this ever so slightly drastic? Does the odour of the female body really cause considerable distress to the nasal passage? And is it ever necessary to have a lady garden so fresh that you could eat your dinner off it? It’s certainly something to think about, and while I do I’ll be keeping my toilet spray where it firmly belongs - in the bog.

Posted by Abby O'Reilly on 15 December 2007, at 11:00 PM