Weird smell in house

[Slightyamusedandsilly]

I feel a bit like I'm losing my mind.

There is a weird, slightly chemically / over ripe fruity smell in my house. It's not overt and so far, it seems to be only me who can smell it!

I get the nose blindness to it when I've been at home for a while, but when I first walk in the front door, I can smell it in the hall. Occasionally, I can smell it upstairs on the landing too, but most of the time I don't notice it.

I looked it up online and the way I've described it came up as a possible refrigerant leak. I don't have air con (who the hell needs it in the UK!) but I do have a dehumidifier, which uses refrigerant, so I've unplugged that.

I have pets, who can be a bit smelly so I've cleared up their areas. I have cleared the hall (half thinking someone might have left a piece of fruit in a coat pocket) which has reduced the smell a bit, but still get a vague hint of it when I walk in the front door after being out for a while.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I read online that it can be gas, but it really doesn't smell anything like gas, and also, there is no gas line into the hall where the smell tends to be.

Blocked drains in the bathroom?
damp?
I’ve been driven mad by an awful smell which is on and off in my hallway which smells like someone has set fire to a turd. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s the soil pipe running alongside the house.
have you got a carbon monoxide detector?

Is it something dead? Sorry, but when I found a very dead dessicated pidgeon in a chimney it smelled sweet and musty, but not in a good way

Are your pets hunters?

It will be a dead mouse. Or possibly rat. If it's a mouse it might decompose and the smell disappear. If it's a rat you'll eventually be overwhelmed by the smell and will track it down. Have you got floorboards? Could be under them. Been there, got the t-shirt.

Have your pets bought in a toy or something from the garden which has been scented on by a fox? Mine do this from time to time and it drives me mad. My family all think I'm mad as I march around the house sniffing everything and swear they can't smell anything, but I always find something. The worst was a sock which got slung into the laundry basket under the stairs, I kept getting whiffs of it but it took me a few days to find!

Carpets or plant pot soil. We changed both and our slight room odour left.

Could anyone have diabetes?

Also vote for a dead rat.

Do you have Christmas flowers around still where the water is getting pongy?

Dead animal in your wall cavity?
Bonus is, it will stop smelling soon

Have you got plastic cat litter trays? After a while they can trap this off ammonia smell

Dead mouse. Smelled like rotting fruit and bleach.

Electrics? That’s a funny smell. I kept telling DH there must be a dead mouse in the garage, then the electrics blew.

Could someone have left a fruit in a bag or pocket and it's going off?

Or the lunchbox from when school broke up!

If the smell gets stronger it’s a dead mouse/rat in the walls.

When we had that smell it was a tangerine between the sofa cushions. One of the kids had stuffed it in there and forgotten about it.

Dry rot. Check your timbers.

Checked it!

We do, but upstairs. I'll replace it. Maybe it's got a lingering odour.

Any teens who are vaping? 😦

I go through periods where I can smell weird/gross/unpleasant/worrying smells that nobody else can smell! It's not all the time, but I will smell it several times a day and in similar places each time.

It turns out it's caused by extreme stress, but it means I can't actually do anything to get rid of the smell.
It's most likely got a normal cause such as something in your house though.
Have you got any muddy clothes/shoes in your house anywhere? Old socks left in shoes anywhere?

my litter tray had pee on the underside that i didjt know about and it started to smell. it wafted right upstairs. soon as i cleaned the lino and outside bottom of tray it went away.

Where do you store your potatoes?

Something electrical?

Do you have a downstairs bathroom?