ottawa foodies

Something I've encountered sporadically is clean dishes that give off a vile odour. My first memory of being disgusted by this was when we visited my parents' old Hungarian landlady in Spiritwood, Saskatchewan, on a camping holiday when I was about 10 years old. My most recent experience was yesterday morning at home when I went to take a sip of my coffee and got a nose full of stink. I used to describe it as a metallic poopy smell, like that of daisies, but after googling the phenomenon today I realized that "wet dog" is the best description. Others have described it as metallic and fishy, or as a having "wormy" smell. I have a sensitive nose and can't tolerate strong odours, but this is one of the worst.

There is no good consensus on the internet about this. Lots of confident people giving completely different reasons that clearly can't all be right. Hot water supply, algae in the municipal water, airborne contaminants, egg residues, bacteria growing in the cracks of stoneware and glass (lol). None of those fit consistently with my own experiences.

I've noticed this on dishes air-dried near an open window but also on dishes that came straight out of the dishwasher. It's a rare event, so unlikely to be caused by problems with the water supply.

Does anyone know of a more definitive explanation for this foul phenomenon?

I've noticed it only on dishes from a dishwasher. It's not a soapy smell like dish detergent residue, but to me the odour smells metallic. No idea what it is or what causes it, (I've always assumed it was hard water film) but I've found that vinegar in the rinse water helps.

I clean my dishwasher with Dapple baby dish washing soap- it is supposed to be for washing baby dishes and getting rid of protein film.

I use it on my water bottle where I would always put coffee in it and it always comes up super clean.

I use the dapple soap in my dishwasher,as it seems to be good for getting rid of residue.
Also use the same dishsoap to clean painbrushes.

Also let my dishwasher air dry or else it has that awful musty smell.

My washing machine has the same problem- when my mother is here she will wash her clothing and leave the laundry in overnight sometimes or for quite a few hours.
I always use dishsoap to get rid of the scent.

I also make sure the wash machine is dry before closing the door.

Also, sometimes spray alcohol to kill bacteria or just have a more refreshing scent (sort of).
I do spray alcohol in my microwave and dishwasher too-but make sure it is dry before using the microwave or it could be dangerous.

Egg residue?

theysmell.com

Stop putting your wormy dog in the dishwasher!

Maybe you need to use buildup remover in your dishwasher?

I know you can buy this Tide soap to remove "buildup" in your clothes washer and maybe it is also a good idea to use something like bleach or some special kind of soap a few times on the empty dishwasher?

I put some antibacterial soap on the sanitize cycle of my dishwasher, it always seems quite clean after that.
Maybe I do not really need to do that, but I've had my dishwasher 10 years and it still works well.

"I've had my dishwasher 10 years and it still works well."

If it's a regular North American model ... start saving for a new one.

I wish I had heard about Dapple back when my little one was a baby. I've ordered some now :) I also have a funky smell from my dishes at times.

If I were to guess, which I will, I'd say that this dishwasher isn't completely draining and they most likely use a liquid detergent. I've encountered this with an LG washing machine that is long since gone, but found that once I switched to powder the lingering odour disappeared. I remember reading about how the liquid detergents have some sort of "fat" component that doesn't dissolve and if the machine (washing or dishwashing) doesn't completely drain then this odour will remain. I'm sure if you search for LG and liquid detergent you'll find some comments...might not be right, but this is the first thing that popped into my head....brainstorming.

To avoid the anticipated questions...yes, I left the door open and I did switch through a couple of liquid detergents before solving by switching to powder (Tide in this case...from Tide liquid and one from Costco)

I have had my dishwasher since 1993. a Kenmore, it still works great!

My dishwasher is a Maytag and works well, I'm sure it will be good for many more years.

Now my fridge is a Whirlpool and crap-I can't use 1/2 my fridge. water leaks into my fridge then freezes. I'm not fixing that crap again. Shopping for a fridge...

My current dishwasher has been working for a good 40 years. I'll have to check her for standing water. I haven't really noticed a wet dog smell, though.

If you have ever taken one apart to replace a pump or such things, you will see at the bottom there is always a little bit of water left behind from the previous cycles. Maybe some of the higher end dishwashers have a different design but the 'common man' ones dont get rid of the water. Hence the horrid smell as their could be food and mineral bits in there fermenting. A couple cycles of lye alternating with a descaler works wonders on mine!

Prettytastey: Before you drop some of your hard earned cash on a new fridge check this out.

The drain hose for the defrost cycle often clogs up with 'gunk'.

Here is a leaking Whirpool fridge fixed with a turkey baster.

youtu.be/ASR3sAYUOKM

Thanks for the info,
I will try to see what I can do myself.

I've had my fridge fixed twice already- once under warranty and the second time had to pay.
I'm not sure if they did check the drain hose,but I know the seal for the freezer was replaced as it did not close well.

The drain hose prob is clogged I think,but also my freezer part was making a loud buzzing noise, sounded like the motor was about to die.
It was like that a couple days and now is back to being a quiet fridge.

Wary, I was on another site today and someone else had a smelly dish problem. He was directed to a site called gardenweb. Com. If you query smelly dishes you will find a bunch of stuff on the topic. Hope it helps.