How do you get rid of a smelly kitchen when you don't know where the smell comes from?

Question

I am pregnant and every time I walk into my apt. I gag because of the smell in the kitchen. I have cleaned behind the stove/fridge etc. I have cleaned out the fridge and cupboards. What should I do? I can't keep throwing up every time I walk into the kitchen!

Answer 1

Oranges or Lemons down the garbage disposal are a great idea. You might also want to dump some bleach down the sink to clean up your trap, this is much easier than removing it. If the smells don't go away after this you can buy an air deodorizer. They are made of carbon and they suck up smells just like baking soda does in your fridge. You will usually find these in the laundry sections of stores.

If you do all this and it still smells, you might want to consider looking for a dead rodent.

Answer 2

Any chance you're using an old mop to wash the floor? Old mops will apply a horrendous, overall, stink to the floor.

Any chance you're using an old sponge to wipe counters?

Have you looked inside your cabinets to see if something could have spilled (or died) in there?

Could something have spilled and run under the refrigerator? A common incident is that someone drops the whole quart of milk as they take it out of the refrigerator.

Do you have a trash container that you keep lined? If you do, have you checked to see if when you remove the liner there could be some **** on the trash container itself? A tiny amount of this type of thing can make a big smell.

Is there any chance the cupboards were cleaned with something like (hate to say it) Murphy's Oil Soap or some other similiar type of cleaner (which after a while can smell even worse than it does when you first use it). If this could be it use a cleaner like Old English on the wood. I haven't seen it recently, but the Country scent (green cap) is nice and would probably be good at smothering out old oily cleaner smells.

Of course, there is the drain (a load of Comet Cleanser in that kills germs and makes it smell clean).

There's the garbage disposal to check.

Do you have any plants that could have mold in the pots or that may have sitting water under or in them? That stinks beyond belief if it goes on too long.

Do you, by any chance, have a plastic soap dish (particularly the kind with a "rack" for the soap to sit on and let the water drain off into the bottom of the dish)? One of the worst and mysterious stinks is a soap dish with sitting water in it (and particularly, if it has Ivory soap in it).

Would a dishwasher have food stuck in that? It doesn't take a lot of work to check that out. Is there any chance the dishwasher is not draining all the water?

Do you have any mats on the floor that could have old food in or under them somehow?

Have you swept under the baseboards by sweeping to check for things that could cause smells? (Sometimes grapes can roll if you drop them, there could be a dead mouse maybe, etc.)

Is there any chance there's something like wooden window sills that are moldy?

Since you said it makes you want to be sick, I'm leaning toward the suspicion you may be using an old sponge mop. It doesn't take them long to get nasty even if they don't look it. The smell you "paint" on your floor is subtle and hard to find (I've done it).

I can't think of other possible causes (which, of course, is really what you need to discover). In the meantime, there's opening the door a crack, using plug-in air-fresheners, leaving bunches of potpourri out and around, being a little wild with cleaners like Comet or spray cleaners (which you may not want to do right now if you're expecting), hanging a car air freshener or two in the room.

If the kitchen hasn't always smelled like that you know it isn't some strange-smelling material the walls are made of. There is a cause for that smell. You just have to keep investigating.

Answer 3

Do you have a garbage disposal? Sometimes things can get stuck in it and decay, even though you might have run it since.

I've found the best thing in this case is to cut up a lemon into fourths and feed each fourth one at a time through the disposal. It will help to clean out anything that is there and will leave your kitchen smelling fresh.

Also, you might remove the trap from beneath the sink (the U-shaped pipe) and clean it out. Things can get stuck in there, too.

Good luck!

Answer 4

try putting up a solid air freshioner in kitchen these are cheap and work great also u could use lemon cleanser in the kitchen the citrus may take away your keep sense of putrid smell
I also had a bit of this when i was pregnant fries foods made me sick from the smell

Answer 5

Does your fridge have a drip pan? If so check it and clean it. Some water may have drained from the fridge into the drip pan and the water may be a bit moldy now. Hope that helps you!

Answer 6

One thing I do that seems to help my funny kitchen smells is use my trash can as a mop bucket. It gets all the nasty smells out of the can and keeps it fresh. Best of luck with the baby!!

Answer 7

Since you don't know where the odor is try sitting a large disposable container of unscented cat liter in the room. The liter absorbs the odor and can then be thrown away.

Answer 8

Try getting some air fresheners or room deodorizers. They help. Also, get some oranges and stick little pieces of cloves in them. It makes a good natural room deodorizer.

Answer 9

If you have a garbage disposal, cut a lemon in half and put through the garbage disposal.

Answer 10

Did you check the drain?