Saturday, December 11, 2010

The mystery kitchen smell

Have you ever had a smell coming from somewhere that seemed to be inexplicable? We have for about the past week. It was coming from the garbage/sink area. Our garbage is a slide out cabinet just to the left of our sink. I first thought it was the garbage and changed it daily for a few days. The stink remained. Then I suspected the garbage disposal. I thought I had perhaps gotten some grease or something down the disposal when I was cleaning up after the pot roast that we had earlier in the week. But I vaguely remember the smell starting before the pot roast. Regardless, I tried to clean the disposal. Did a round of bleach. No change. Tried baking soda and vinegar. Boiling water. No change. Yuck. Finally last night I stuck my head directly over the disposal and it smelled...fresh. It wasn't the disposal.

I had thought the smell was worse under the sink so my next thought was something with the plumbing. I briefly entertained taking apart some pipes, but Jason deterred me. And the garbage area still smelled, even when there was no garbage in it. Hmmmm....What could it be? I was fearing some plumbing in the walls or floor or something. Being a novice, I really had no idea.

Then today I removed the garbage can and looked deep into the cabinet behind it and saw...two diapers. Two old, smelly diapers. I experienced a strange blend of disgust and relief. I had found the culprit. On occasion Sam throws away the dirty diapers for me. He likes to help out and I can only assume that the diapers didn't quite make it into the garbage can and instead were placed behind it.

I sprinkled a generous amount of baking soda over the area and hope that takes care of any lingering odors. The mystery smell is no longer a mystery.

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