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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Does egg make your dishwasher smell?

35 replies

Flamingolingo · 30/05/2020 08:06

Wondering if you can help me with something that’s driving me (and especially DH) mad...

Every time anything that’s been in contact with egg goes in the dishwasher the clean plates have a faint but distinctive smell. It’s not the filters because they get cleaned regularly, and the machine gets a proper clean often too. It’s just an egg thing, but I’m wondering if other people notice it too? The obvious answer is to just not put eggy plates in the dishwasher, but, annoying!

YABU: you’re imagining it, my dishwasher doesn’t smell after egg
YANBU: this is a thing and it’s bloody annoying

If you are familiar with this do you have any solutions?!

OP posts:
BubblesBuddy · 30/05/2020 08:08

I’m not voting but no, I’ve never noticed this. Get a Miele to end your woes!

Worriedaboutthefuture1 · 30/05/2020 08:10

It’s the protein in the eggs. It makes everything smell like wet dogs.
I’m not sure what the solution is to be honest other than to wash saucepans with any egg residue by hand.

Twotinydictators · 30/05/2020 08:12

Yes! DH hand washes anything that has come into contact with egg for this very reason, we both really hate that smell! Omelettes and scrambled egg are the worst but even things like pancake batter can do it too.

Snagscardies · 30/05/2020 08:12

Voted yabu but not agreeing to the fact you are imagining it just that it doesn't make mine smell.

How much of the egg to you leave on the plates, maybe we mop up more, or maybe the dog gets his head in before we close the door which is something which turns my stomach yet I do little to prevent.

Charles11 · 30/05/2020 08:12

Yes! Every time. Try squirting white vinegar over all the cutlery and dishes when you have eggy dishes.

rottiemum88 · 30/05/2020 08:14

I've never noticed it, but DH can smell it instantly when anything with egg on has been in the dishwasher. I try to hand wash them separately now

Original poster
Flamingolingo · 30/05/2020 08:15

Ahh good, not just me then. Plates going in are clear of debris, having been wiped with a piece of kitchen towel. We are scientists (of the chemistry/life sciences persuasion) and so quite fanatical about the dishwasher being clean

OP posts:
Original poster
Flamingolingo · 30/05/2020 08:16

@rottiemum88 hah! Yes my DH is more bothered than I am, yet he doesn’t seem to be keen to do the hand washing Hmm

OP posts:
SunshineLollipopsRainbow · 30/05/2020 10:41

As a child our dishwasher always had a funky smell...mine as an adult does not ... I dont eat eggs but as a child my family did so you could be right!

Original poster
Flamingolingo · 30/05/2020 10:43

Ah see this is not always - only after egg. I know other people with funky dishwashers, that’s because they don’t clean the filter out or deep clean the machine...

OP posts:
EmeraldShamrock · 30/05/2020 10:48

Do them by hand. I don't use one, I had one in a rental but it was smelly no matter how much I scrubbed it. I've a weird issue around things growing mouldy water germs.

curtainsforme · 30/05/2020 11:04

I just rinse them first.

Original poster
Flamingolingo · 31/05/2020 07:38

Yes, going to have to rinse them I think. It’s a slightly wet doggy smell, although it doesn’t seem to last when the plates are dried, but there is much complaining!

OP posts:
Oilyoilyoilgob · 31/05/2020 07:44

Wet dog smell! Yes to the dishwasher, but there’s times I can smell it in cups/glasses either at our house or in other peoples, or pubs!

Got a pornstar martini a few months ago for the first time (I’m a wine drinker normally) the description said nothing and I didn’t know they used egg whites to make a foam on top. The smell, sweet Jesus 🤢

Original poster
Flamingolingo · 31/05/2020 08:19

I can sometimes smell it at others’ houses, but tbf I can sometimes smell general dishwasher rankness too. Just made pancakes for the kids so guess I’ll be hand washing that then!

Oh my gosh, I’m never ordering a pornstar martini 😱

OP posts:
novacaneforthepain · 31/05/2020 08:33

Please tell me how to deep clean my dishwasher!

SquigglePigs · 31/05/2020 08:38

I've never had that with ours, and we eat eggs most days so plenty of eggy things go in it.

Original poster
Flamingolingo · 31/05/2020 08:40

I make sure the filters are cleaned at least weekly (ours is a Bosch so it just twists out of the floor of the dishwasher, then give it a good scrub). I put some dishwasher cleaner through it (you buy it in a bottle that sits in the bottom tray and run it on hot) every 6-8 weeks, sooner if it smells funky. You can also get tablet type cleaners that sit on the dishwasher floor

OP posts:
Original poster
Flamingolingo · 31/05/2020 08:50

@SquigglePigs I really think it’s something that not everyone can smell/not everything is bothered by.

OP posts:
Oilyoilyoilgob · 31/05/2020 09:39

Yep it was rank, I didn’t touch it-as soon as I raised it to my lips I boaked 😅 So after that if I got a cocktail I’d always check there was no egg white in it.
Same with meringue, hate it and it’s wet dog stench.

It’s definitely not something everyone can smell. My mum can, we’ve been out in cafes before and have both smelt it on the cups. My husband has never been able to smell it on anything (lucky him!)

Staywithmemyblood · 31/05/2020 09:54

Yes - hate that smell so anything 'eggy' I wash by hand. I sometimes make scrambled egg in the microwave and always use the same old mug for it - I couldn't drink tea out of it 🤢

ButDoUAvocado · 31/05/2020 09:59

No eggy plates or cutlery can ever go in my dishwasher, if one sneaks in accidentally I can smell it on everything as soon as the cycle is done and have to wash everything again before it can go back in the cupboards.
DH can’t smell it though.
I bought a slice of cake a few years ago at a garden centre restaurant and the plate smelt so strongly of egg that I couldn’t eat it.

Blibbyblobby · 31/05/2020 10:18

Oh god yes! Wet dog smell. It’s not a smell everyone is sensitive to. I can smell it on hand washed stuff as well, and even just walking past a pile of dry dishes.

Very common that cafe crockery has the smell, I guess because they tend to do breakfasts whereas restaurants just do lunch and dinner.

I often find meringue has a hint of the same smell.

Weird thing is I can’t smell it on actual dirty eggy plates or washed plates while they are wet, only once they are dry. I think it must be some sort of bacterial or chemical action between egg, maybe just egg white, and water.

It took us ages to work out what caused the smell. Hand washing keeps the smell away from other stuff in the dishwasher but doesn’t get rid of it. We wash anything that’s had egg on it separately, double scrubbed with a few drops of bleach in the water which gets rid of it, which is my I think it might be bacterial.

Xiaoxiong · 31/05/2020 10:25

I occasionally get this in both the dishwasher and the washing machine on clothes (even if freshly washed and not left to sit in the drum).

When it happens I run an empty hot wash with soda crystals in the drawer, and for the dishwasher I also add squeezed out lemon shells/slices to the cutlery drawer or impaled on one of the spikes. I also do a deep clean around the seals and hinges with hot water, fairy liquid and a toothbrush.

DS2 and I can both smell it, DH and DS1 think we're crazy!

Lucy40ishere · 31/05/2020 11:50

I can smell this too & so can other members of the family but not everyone! Took ages to realise that it was egg that causes the smell