to think that there is nothing more annoying...

[CheerfulYank]

than having a strange smell in your house that you can't find the source of?!

It is driving. Me. Mad.

I don't think it's me. Which is good. But wtf is it? It's a bizarre sweetish smell that. I get a whif of every so often.

They do say that dead bodies cause a sweet smell.

Have you had a patio laid recently?

Something fermenting? Apple rolled under somewhere?

Maybe your pregnancy hormones are making you smell things that aren't there?

Or maybe it's a ghost - of an old lady. I hear they smell sweet.

Maybe its a ghost? Or is that just the white vinegar smell?

Dead mouse under the cooker.

Eeeew fa, I hope not!

It seems to be around the couch. When I've had my nap (this first trimester is hitting me like a ton of bricks) I will pull off the cushions and investigate.

It smells sweet, then gross...like candy and dirty feet. Boak!

Do you have a cat...has she bought anything in...

Maybe your couch needs a 'wash'.

Old sick under the cushion.

Dead mouse. Maybe the sofa needs a bloody good wash/airing. If dh puts his fetid feet on the cushions after a day at work before showering I get the rage.

Dead bird down the chimney?

My money's on a dead decaying mouse too. Bloody cat brings them in and one got behind hot water cylinder to die ... I couldn't reach it, central heating man couldn't reach it ... Eventually, when smell had died down, cat kindly retrieved the skeleton from its tomb and left it in the middle of the kitchen floor for me. Bless

Old lady ghost. It is the ONLY explanation.

I lived with an old lady ghost for a while, the smell was talcum powder with no underlying decay.

Maybe an evil old lady ghost might smell different.

OP described the smell of a decaying mouse to me though. I smell it often, my house is littered with them thanks to the cat. Look under the sofa OP.

Dead mouse. I found one decomposing under the sofa cushions once. It had a sweet smell that filled the room up in seconds.

Is there a coffee cup with mouldy dregs in somewhere? We had a mystery smell which turned out to be half a cup of hot chocolate that ds had left on the window sill behind the curtain.

Check absolutely everything in fridge. I had a dreadful smell once....thought it must have been meat but it was actually coming from a ready prepared potato dish!

I had a strange smell in my hallway which was somewhere between vinegar and pear drops - turned out to be some weed killer granules which had gone 'off' what was strangest was they were nowhere near the hallway - where they were stored didn't smell at all - can only guess must have been due to vents or the way the wall cavities join up

The most disgusting smell is when a random potato escapes and dies somewhere, the smell is horrendous...

How do I wash a couch??

I can take the cushion covers off and wash those, but the rest of it?

It's definitely not under it; I moved it earlier today to sweep under.

Sorry, it's defo a dead mouse.

Sounds exactly like a dead mouse. One time our cat came in with a half alive mouse in its mouth and dropped it in the living room. The bloody mouse ran off and died somewhere and it took weeks to find it. As a result I am very familiar with that particular smell.

I was once bought this perfume for Xmas that reminds me so much of that smell. It was called "so...?kiss me" if anyone is interested.

Yup dead mouse

Probably gone down the back or arms of the sofa - crawled in to die?