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??

[TitaniasCloset]

I was once on the bus and had a lady sitting next to me. There was the most god awful smell, she looked at me strangely and moved, I thought, cheeky cow! Its not me.

Anyway still smelt the bad smell at home, checked handbag and found a massive wedge of Camembert that had come with a cheese salad I had a few days before. I had wrapped it up and decided to take it home with me because it was a huge cheese salad and you know, waste not want not.

That poor lady must have thought I was a total minger.

[TheFirie]

Electricity smells bad. Most of the tine a fishy smell but sometimes just rotten food. Another poster already mentioned it but you should check the plugs, Lamp socket, etc. Just see if the smell is stronger next to any electrical outlet. Smell is the first signal something is melting / burning

[user1471601513]

Check between your plates - we had an awful smell and it was a piece of onion stuck between two plates. Whoever had unpacked the dishwasher didn't notice it still on the plate and put it in the cupboard, it stank.

[Giraffeseyelashes]

No idea OP but am loving your "poems"!

[OverByYer]

I had the rotting light fittings.
The smell was awful but intermittent.
It drive me mad.
I actually got to the point where I even thought it might be a poltergeist.
I was sniffing the walls, skirting boards.

[tiddlyipom]

Do you have a coffee machine?
There was an awful off milk smell in my kitchen the other day, turned out to be the drip tray from that.

[MakeItStopNeville]

I bet a million quid it's a dead mouse. Especially if the smell gets stronger over the next few days.

[MistressMaisie]

Try shutting all doors etc. Leave for a couple of hours then go in and try to locate it. Leave lights off see if it is still there. Take bin out and leave outside.
If you are moving about and opening doors and fridges it will be hard to nail down.
Is anything behind the radiator?

[deeedeee]

Smell still there this morning. So I've lit an incense stick and made apologies to in laws. Gauntlet laid down to them! Fingers crossed they found it by the time I get back from work.

[coffeecuppa]

I had this! Cleaned/checked everything and it still wouldn't go. Turns out that it was the sticky label on the bottom of the hand soap dispenser that was next to the sink, in the splash zone! Reeked to high heaven, I gagged when I removed it. Bleurgh.

[Rrross1ges]

Have you decorated the kitchen recently? Years ago we had an issue with a smell in DDs room. After checking it wasn't her nappies, calling out Transco and the builders and environmental health then ripping up the carpet and the floorboards we read online that low emission paints, if stored at extremes of temperature, can deteriorate and cause problems with smell. Unfortunately it doesn't smell like death when it goes on. The smell builds and comes and goes and drives you insane.

[Wisewisewords]

As a recent convert to zoflora disinfectant I suggest giving everything a quick wipe with some diluted zoflora before your guests arrive. It might mask the smell while your guests are there and if you're lucky, might disinfect whatever is causing the smell. Wash your cloths, sponge and washing up brush in it as well. The one I bought was summer breeze and smells much nicer than any other cleaning product I've ever bought.

[e1y1]

Going to stake a bet that it is the drip tray at the back of the fridge. We had this too once, despite keeping an impeccably hygienic kitchen anyway, with extra cleaning on top, there was this smell we couldn't get rid of and did not know where it was coming from.

Eventually discovered it was that drip tray, cleaned that and the smell disappeared immediately.

[ipswichwitch]

Does your draining board have a little drain to allow water to run into the waste pipe? We had a terrible smell coming from the sink, and I bleached and cleaned the hell out of the sink, poured drain unblocked down and no difference. Totally forgot about the little drain at the edge of the draining board. Cleaned it, bleached it, poured more drain unblocked down and bye bye smell.

[PickAChew]

Do you have melon in the fridge? They can stink, sometimes.

[cushioncovers]

Bag of rotten potatoes?

[Blueberryblueberry]

I want to know if the op has checked the drip tray not really but placemarking as I want to know what the smell is

[itstheyearzero]

I had this once except in a bedroom, but it was strong sometimes and not to strong at other times. It drove me crazy. After a lot of fruitless searching I discovered that it was DP's slippers! He wore them with bare feet so they stank when he took them off, but when he had them on the smell wasn't as bad. So. Check for slippers is my advice!

[BarbaraofSeville]

Is checking the non existent drip tray the new cancel the cheque?

Lets hope the ILs find the source of the smell but without distracting them from their DC minding duties.

Do you have any brie or similar in the fridge OP? Apparently that really stinks - I have a terrible sense of smell so I can't smell it but when we have it at home DP always moans when the fridge door is opened because he hates that type of cheese Colleagues at work have also mentioned 'the pong' when I have brie, so I generally leave it in the car, depending on the temperature being suitable.

[RaspberryOverloadTheFirst]

I've no idea what it could be, but I love the Dr Seuss Green Eggs and Ham references

[TheEmmaDilemma]

I spent all Christmas doing this. Turns out it was a sneaky rotting tangerine hidden in the kitchen where I couldn't see it. I kept thinking we had a gas leak it was that bad.

[Twistmeandturnme]

I spent half of the Christmas holidays trying to find the smell. It seemed to come and go but I couldn't find anything dirty.
It miraculously disappeared when we finished the cheeses I'd bought for Christmas
You haven't got a special cheese in for their visit have you OP?

[StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes]

Have you lifted any chopping boards? we have marble heavy ones and tend to wipe around them but DH lifted one one day and something had got underneath and it stank.

[sippingginandlemon]

Dead mouse in the cavity wall?
They stink and the smell can come through vent holes if you have them behind cupboards.

[maisiejones]

I once thought something had died in my kitchen and hunted the smell for weeks. Turned out I had a gas leak from the pipe that fed the hob. I'd been burning scented candles to try to mask it. It's a wonder I didn't blow the house up!