What's That Nasty Smell in Your Kitchen?

I think most households are a lot like mine in that family and friends inevitably congregate in the kitchen. We regain there to eat our meals and linger over conversations. The kids work on school projects at the kitchen table. When our friends visit, the dining table turns into the game table or we end up on the bar stools in the kitchen chatting over coffee or drinks.

Bottom line - the kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in the house. So it's leading to me to keep the kitchen clean and smelling fresh. I am a bit of a clean freak and I keep my kitchen ready for the next obvious party all the time. So firing up my steam cleaner is pretty much a daily thing.

Door Gasket Refrigerator

That's why I was frantic when I had this weird lingering odor I could neither locate or identify. I searched everywhere. I removed every item from the refrigerator checking for any spoiled or expired food items then steamed every nook and cranny.

I went through the cupboards searching for the culprit but didn't find anything. I checked and steamed my dishwasher. I took out the trash, steamed the inside and outside of the trash can. I eliminated all of the obvious places unpleasant odors tend to hide but couldn't find the cause of the awful odor that was now permeating my whole kitchen.

Tuesday I was peeling carrots and I turned on the disposal. Let me just say it speedily became very obvious that I had found the source of that nasty odor. It was the worst smell you could ever imagine. I understanding the garbage disposal was designed to pulverize and take off food waste and send it down the drain. I should have realized the disposal was assuredly the perfect environment for mold and bacteria to grow...wet, dark and hidden.

As disgusting as this was, I was relieved to ultimately find the cause of the awful odor. I knew this problem could be resolved within 10 to 15 seconds. All I had to do was my turn on my steam cleaner. I knew the steam climatic characteristic was hot enough to kill the mold and bacteria that caused the odor and its nozzle was angled perfectly to blast the gunk out from the incommunicable area under the rubber gasket.

Once my steamer was heated, I put the nozzle down into the disposal and steamed for about 15 seconds. Then I turned the nozzle upside down so I could get up under the rim. A few seconds later the odor was already dissipating. I gave it an extra blast just for good measure, ran some water through it and sure enough the odor was gone!

I now comprise the garbage disposal sanitizing process in my weekly steaming tasks and have never encountered this problem again.

What's That Nasty Smell in Your Kitchen?

33 inch wide french door refrigerators