What Is That Smell? The 3 Most Common Offenders For Strange Smells In the Kitchen

The kitchen is so much more than a place where food is prepared. It’s both a social and a solitary space. A place where you can spend some quality time with yourself cooking and enjoying your food or a place where you and the whole family can enjoy the shared experience of preparing a delicious meal together. It sees more foot traffic than nearly any other room in the house and it’s one of the first priorities that we look for when choosing a new home. With that in mind, we take great care to ensure that the kitchen is spotlessly clean, intuitively neat and organized and the only scents drifting through the doors are the citrusy freshness of a newly cleaned kitchen or the aroma of delicious food cooking.

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[ctt template=”4″ link=”96Mci” via=”yes” ]When there’s an unpleasant odor in the kitchen, it can really be a bother. When these smells persist and are unable to be masked, we need to identify the cause as quickly as possible. Here are some of the most common culprits of smells in the kitchen.[/ctt]

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So, when there’s a strange and unpleasant odor in the kitchen, it can really disrupt the carefully constructed domestic charm with which you infuse the kitchen. When these smells persist and are unable to be masked, we need to identify the cause as quickly as possible. Here are some of the most common culprits…

Food storage

We’re all impulsive creatures when we shop (which is why you should never shop while hungry), and the supermarkets know just how to sway us with special offers and “too good to miss” discounts. This is all well and good until we come home with far more food than we know what to do with. If that heavily discounted produce isn’t used quickly it can get pushed to the back of the cupboard or pantry and forgotten about. Over time it can begin to putrefy, leading to any number of unpleasant smells. This is why your food storage should always be your first port of call.

Your plumbing

It’s important that all of your kitchen appliances like your dishwasher and washing machine are properly vented. Improperly vented drains can prevent your U bend from doing its job and allow sewer gases and other noxious fumes to escape into your home. This can not only create foul odors but also be potentially hazardous to your health. Thus, ensure that your laundry drain is properly vented. If, on the other hand, you notice a musty smell, you may have a water leak somewhere underneath your floor boards. In either case, you’ll likely need to consult a plumber.

Your garbage

Okay, so this is a no-brainer, but just because you empty your garbage regularly doesn’t mean that nasty bacteria can’t build up around food waste in your garbage can, resulting in extremely unpleasant smells. The trash can itself must be cleaned semi regularly, as stray pieces of food or droplets of liquid can spill from trash cans, collecting and festering in the bottom of the can and over time resulting in an unholy stench. Take your garbage can into the shower, rinse it out and spray it with some surface cleanser or white vinegar.

If your sink has a garbage disposal unit, this may also be the source of any unpleasant odors. You should be able to identify is this is the source of unpleasant smells just by leaning over and taking a sniff. If this is the case, simply clean it out by letting water run into the garbage disposal and letting a few ice cubes pass through the mechanism, followed by a small wedge of lemon, a cup of white vinegar and a cup of lemon juice. This will remove any food stuck in the mechanism or sticking to the blades while refreshing the inner workings.

This is a contributed post.

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