To challenge you to find where the smell in my kitchen is coming from?

[deeedeee]

Smells like off milk, it's driving me insane! Can't find it and the inlaws are coming for the day tomorrow!

Bin has been cleaned, recycling drawer, fridge, looked behind fridge, behind cooker, cleaned all cupboards, floor and surfaces scrubbed.

What is it??

Do you have a waste disposal in your kitchen sink? And a cat?

We used to wash out our cat food tins in the sink (and use the waste disposal), all ready for recycling the clean tin. Every so often our kitchen (only when the washing machine was on) would stink of old fish. It was disgusting. Took me about a year to work out what was causing the smell!

Obviously some plumbing issue here, but I've started just chucking the cat food tins in the normal rubbish, and we are without smell!

In my house it's always the garbage disposal.

Maybe not the right smell but we did have a mouse die in an.electrical socket once in a second floor flat. Goodness knows how it got in there. (I know you said no mice but how can you be sure?).

When I had a nasty smell in the kitchen recently I eventually found a pack of open bacon in the cupboard instead of the fridge. It was mouldy. I had put it there by accident and later blamed the dog when I couldn't find it in the fridge - assumed he'd stolen it before I'd had chance to put it away. Had to apologise to the dog of course when I found the offending item!

My most recent unidentifiable nasty smell turned out to be the delicious Camembert that I'd bought for Christmas. Had to eat it obvz to get rid of the smell.

Its totally the overspill/driptray in your fridge.
This has happened several times in our workplace fridge recently. Cream or milk has been spilt inside, its runs into the channel and ends up at the back of the fridge in a drip tray (which is above the motor) - heats it up nicely all weekend and voila - a VERY stinky curdled milk/vomit smell

Has something rolled under the microwave and started festering?
Also if your worktops have a curved front edge then give them a clean on the under side

Had similar horrible smell drove me mad then realised the back door curtain had got wet when i cleaned the floor. Curtain replaced with newly washed one and kitchen smells lovely again. I suggest cleaning all the fridge sheleves etc. Whens the smell strongest

Double-check the fridge. Our entire house was once stunk out by a 1" piece of rotting cabbage leaf. It wasn't a big house, but it REEKED.

the fridge totally doesn't have a drip tray. just checked the manual and looked everywhere. there's even no hole at the bottom

no waste disposal, no microwave. Just checked all the cupboards.

Husband is currently pulling off remaining kick plate , that is under the sink. Hoping that it's there.

inlaws are OCD at the best of times. Father in law even refuses to drink tap water in his own house. eeeek

I'm so sad I'm just place-marking to find out what the smell is.

Hi

The overflow hole in the sink? Had this once, I'd put bleach and boiling water down the plug hole but the little pipe from the overflow was still all gunked up.

There was a recent thread where a poster could detect a wee like smell, but didn't know what it was. I'm not sure if she got to the bottom of it.

Sink or dishwasher trap? Bleach and hot water for sink, dishwasher cleaning pack and cleaning cycle for dishwasher.

As odd as it sounds, are you sure there's actually a smell? I've been convinced there's a bad smell in a room before when actually either I've got rid of it but the smell is still "stuck" in my nose or it doesn't exist at all (happens when I'm pregnant! )

Failing that just don't let them into the kitchen!

I refuse to ever have Camembert in the house after the stench last time

Dishwasher filter/trap?

I have just remembered the time we found a dead mouse, gently rotting in the drip tray at the back of the fridge.

I ran screaming from the kitchen and made DH deal with it.

Cat jumped on a top cupboard and vomited?

Have you sniffed sponges/cloths/mopheads etc?

Someone at work insists on NEVER rinsing mops out after use and leaving to dry over night/weekend. Putting them in water seems to activate the stench so it's only after you have washed floor next day that you find yourself gagging at the smell and having to clean mop and redo floor

My unidentified pong turned out to be an opened bag of (not so) frozen prawns that I had put in the tea-towel drawer instead of the freezer.
Took me ages to find them

We had a terrible smell from the sink in our kitchen last week. Just before a party too and it stank the whole house. Tried the vinegar/boiling water/bicarbonate thing mentioned up thread and it did the trick in minutes. Kitchen smelt a bit like a chip shop for a while but vast improvement on drain stink.

Oh, Lord! So, it's not your fridge, not your cupboards and you don't have a microwave. Then I am hazarding a guess that the pong is coming from your sink?? Even if it is just slightly blocked, it will stink!! Crikey, and your FIL has OCD (presumably with cleaning and hygiene??) If that's the case, then why not enlist his help when he arrives? If you really can't find the source, then hopefully he can? Either way, good luck! And please post an update.

When this has happened to me, it's either been mice or electrics.

In the meantime, to deal with the guests, Zoflora in the sink with boiling water for 20 mins then down the plug hole .

My inlaws are coming to look after kids while i'm at work, so they'll be here all day on their own!

Nothing obviously smelly under sink, bits and bobs had fallen down there, but nothing that smelt like "the smell"

I shall investigate the overflow pipe. have poured lemon juice and baking soda and boiling water down sink.

not the mop or the cloths. Seriously, I cleaned for three hours today, and then the cleaner came this after noon too and cleaned the kitchen.

It's so fucking strange. what is the bloody thing

even DH can smell it and he usually can't smell anything, or if he does it doesn't bother him.

so embarrassed for tomorrow. they are going to be so freaked out

I still think it's your fridge. My fridge hasn't got a drip tray but still smells like cheese sometimes. I pour bleach down the drainage hole in the back of the fridge and that stops it.