To panic about sudden solvent smell in home

[Stateyourbusiness]

Just came home after a morning in the park and was hit with a wave of solvent/paint stripper smell as soon as we walked in the door. It wasn’t there when we left two hours ago.

I’ve read a strong solvent smell can be caused by a faulty appliance or some kind of leak. Our tumble dryer has been behaving oddly the past couple of days and the smell is coming from there. Quick Google search suggests it could be an emergency situation if it’s a leak (doesn’t smell like gas).

After 5 or 10 minutes of being home I started to feel really unwell - but perhaps that’s just because I’m panicking. Now I’m sitting outside in the rain not sure what to do or who to call. I’m pregnant and my son is 2, I don’t know if it’s safe for us to be in the house or sleep there tonight if we can’t get someone to come out and investigate on a Sunday afternoon.

Does anyone know what kind of professional I should call in this situation?

Partner thinks I shouldn’t panic. AIBU? Or rather am I overreacting?

any help appreciated!

I would check with any adjoining neighbours if you have them. We had this smell strongly in our house once and it was due to the work they were having done next door (don’t know what), he had packed his family off for the weekend, whilst we just had to put up with the headaches.

And just to add - if you think the smell is coming from the tumble dryer, just unplug it. There is nothing that can be omitted from it that can harm you. The most it would be is burnt out electrics or burnt lint.

If it is your tumble dryer that smells of solvent, obviously don't use it till it's sorted.
There are videos on YouTube and info about what could cause it, prevent it, or if perhaps you need it looking at professionally online.
Good luck getting it fixed.

When we had this it was an issue with our freezer coolant pipe meaning it was leaking refrigerant. It smelled very strongly of solvent. It's not good to breathe in, especially if you're pregnant (I was at the time).

Electrical fires can give off weird smells. There could be something that’s been burnt or still burning in the wiring/fuse box/somewhere that you can’t see because it’s behind the wall. I’m not sure who’s best to call in such a scenario (I’m not in the UK). Is there a non-emergency fire safety number?

And I don’t mean to panic you unnecessarily if I have. It’s just that I literally had an electrical fire last week (not in the UK). The fuse box burnt up and there was a strange smell before I noticed it was on fire.

If someone nearby has dumped something they shouldn’t in the drains then the smell can sometimes back up through the sewer system. We had this a while ago and I called the gas man. The smell was noticeably coming from around where there is an internal drain cover in a cupboard. We opened all the windows and it disappeared gradually.

Thanks for the suggestions! I think we’ve figured it out. We called the next door neighbour round to help us lift the trouble dryer down to unplug it. It all looked fine.

After some chatting and trying to figure it out, it turned out he had been painting that morning and had poured a tiny bit of white spirit down his bathroom sink that morning after washing his brushes. So it must be that and for some reason the smell is coming back up through our drains. So strong for such a small amount, but a relief knowing what has caused it!

I’m quite an anxious person by nature. I was exposed to the fumes for about ten minutes before going outside. Hoping ten mins isn’t enough time to impact the baby.

Open all the windows put a fan by the open door. We had a similar situation once and it turn out to be a leaking aerosol. The aerosol tin can was old and the top/sprayer part failed and the leak of DIY solvent was very horrible