Talk me down

[hotcrossbunsgivemeheartburn]

Just got home after having been out for the day. Left the house at 11:30 and came back briefly at 3pm before leaving again and returning just now. When I went in the kitchen I could smell men's aftershave/deodorant. Definitely not DH's. I asked DH if he could smell it and he said that he'd thought the same when he first came in. I'm now terrified that someone has been in the house whilst we've been out.

We've checked all the doors, which were all locked, and there's no obvious sign of anyone having been in any of the rooms. House was brand new when we bought it over two years ago and nothing like this has happened before. The only other people who have a key are the people we've been with this afternoon so it can't be them.

Someone please tell me there is a rational explanation for the smell before I spend all night sat awake with a kitchen knife.

Drying washing indoors with a new fabric conditioner?

I should add that I've got a stinking cold too so for me to smell it, it must have been quite strong.

@FindingMeno we do have washing drying but it's our usual washing products and doesn't smell like what I smelt.

COVID?

@RJnomore1 I did a LF test this morning which was negative. My cold is courtesy of my DC who had it last week and had negative PCR tests.

Ah ok, the new variant does present more as a cold (and the lat flow tests aren’t that accurate), it does seem an odd thing?

You don’t share a toilet extractor chimney thing with a neighbour? I once had one where I could smell my neighbour smoking through a shared vent system.

@RJnomore1 in a way I'd rather it be Covid as at least I'd know! No shared extractors, it's a detached house.

I can still smell it a little bit but both DH and I agree it's only in the one spot by the kitchen door. If anyone had been in they would have had to either go through the hall, in to the utility or across the kitchen through the French doors and we can't smell it in those places.

Is the smell by the door? Any leaflets dropped in, package delivery expected?

You mention DC, couldn't be anything to do with them? Bought with pocket money? They maybe got it as a Christmas present you forgot about?

Maybe you've got a ghost?

Or DH is having an affair with a man?

Or DH had a friend/drug dealer/other no-good over who you've banned him from seeing?

@Frazzledd you walk through the front door, down the hall and then in to the kitchen and the smell is just inside the kitchen door. No leaflets today.

@Ohshittt DC are too young to have bought anything without us. Nothing of theirs around than we can see.

Has anything leaked inside a cupboard ? Eg spare bottle of cleaning fluid or laundry powder etc.

@NuffSaidSam DH has been with me all day so that only leaves the ghost!

@Bargebill19 not than I can see. The spot where we can smell it is between the door and the table, no cupboards.

I'm kind of reassured by the fact I can still smell it as that might suggest that it's something that's still in the room rather than one that's faded after the source has left.

@Bargebill19

Has anything leaked inside a cupboard ? Eg spare bottle of cleaning fluid or laundry powder etc.

I'd be checking cupboards too. If someone had been in wearing a strong aftershave you'd be smelling it through the house not just in one spot.

(Unless they're in the cupboard...ask DH to check...!)

Any electrical sockets nearby? Not wanting to alarm you, but something like insulation quietly smouldering away? Give them a sniff!

@Frazzledd have checked all the wardrobes and big cupboards and have sniffed everything around that area, including the chair, table, floor and door!

Or do you have ventilation bricks beside the door - is it something outside wafting in? Like a honeysuckle or other plants in a tub outside, the aroma being drawn in via fixed ventilation above a window?

Are there any mens magazines around with aftershave inserts? just a thought

Pregnant?

@Bargebill19 no sockets but have sniffed the radiator next to the door. No vents in that area. It's practically the centre of the house so I wouldn't have thought it could be anything from outside.

@cakegoblin no magazines

@covidcloser I laughed out loud at that! We have a newborn and it would have to be an immaculate conception!

Have you checked lights? We had a lightbulb burn out the other day and it made a funny smell.