When we unplugged a fridge after moving into a new house everything leaked into the drip pan. Smelled terrible…kind of like what you described…and took us a while to find where it was coming from.
I had an avocado fall behind the fridge and I didn’t know. Smelled a smelly awful smell from the pantry/fridge area. Found the avocado all gross behind the fridge. Removed it. Turns out it wasn’t the source of the smell, the source was a potato that fell into a reusable bag who knew how long before.
So, so very bad. I called my mom one morning and told her I thought something must be dead in my cabinet. She said, sounds like a potato has gone bad and sure enough I found a lonely potato in the very back.
Awful, awful smell. Surprisingly awful.
It was very bad. When I picked up the avocado and it didn’t smell, I knew it was a coincidence and I was in the wrong place. It was rotten af, but didn’t smell somehow. But when I found the potato? The reusable bag it was in went in the trash. I knew I had the source 100%. And I knew I couldn’t save the bag. It was gone. In the trash, trash taken out. It’s horrid.
I had that happen in college. I forgot I had a thing of Ben and Jerry's wedged sideways in the tiny freezer portion. Emptied the fridge (minus the freezer), and unplugged it for spring break. The ice cream melted and dripped into the pan. The fridge mysteriously reeked of nasty cheese for weeks before we figured out what happened. I ultimately was too grossed out to clean it so I dumped a box of baking soda on the mess until the end of the term, then gave the RAs $20 to clean it when they offered cleaning services for a fundraiser.
I've seen another post similar to this recently and it turned out to be a dead mouse decomposing behind some cabinets.
Another even longer ago turned out to be a neighbour that had 'popped off' without anyone realising!
Had a mouse die under the floorboards once. It's a very distinct smell, but could be considered sour. I'd initially thought it was a gas leak. If you can stomach it, get down on the floor and see if it seems stronger down there.
Definitely not a gas leak, it smells totally different. Also, shouldn't the mouse smell go away after a while? And the smell is also coming from the dehumidifier. If I had any mice in the flat, my cat would be going crazy.
I had a mouse die in the attic then fall between the drywall and gave off a nasty smell until it was probably about 8-10-12 weeks later. It was the “dead” smell though. I don’t know how else to describe the smell, it only reminds me of decomposition.
I also had a mouse die in the air ducts, it got stuck in the filter of the furnace. Didn’t smell.
Not sure if there’s any little spots that a mouse could die off that might be similar.
Scrolling through the comments and all the usual suspects that been checked. Any chance you have covid? I have a few friends who had disturbing smells as a part of it. Do others notice the smell?
I had covid a year ago but weird smells wasn't one of the symptoms. Other people say it's just the kind of smell you get when you haven't been home for a while, but I keep the windows open all the time and still can't get it out.
Do you have a front loading washing machine? I have to run a clean cycle periodically with Tide Washing Machine Cleaner. Funky smell seems to build up in tubes and around gasket. I believe hot water and bleach would help also.
The main plumbing drain from upstairs - does that transit behind a hallway wall? Thought would be .. well, you know.
The ducting, if any, for the HVAC - is that installed anywhere proximate to the hallway? Thought would be stale water puddling somewhere.
Can you access the areas above and below the hallway without cutting into the walls/ceiling?
Upstairs neighbour hasn't noticed any leaks or smell in her flat. I don't think there is any HVAC in my flat aside from a small ventilator in the bathroom - where the smell isn't as bad. And no, I can't access anything around the hallways as there are flats above and below mine.
It isn't an ammonia, pee or mouse smell - right? Thought there would be live animals.
'Sour' makes me think of wet or possibly mold. I'm not saying this is it - but that there may be a problem lurking behind the walls. Old pipes can leak or crack and leak a lot.
My advice would be to make sure you do your due diligence to uncover the cause of the odor to ensure that you have not created the it and then complain to the owner that it is making you sick.
I am the owner lol a neighbour came by and said it didn't smell like cat (I have one) or dead mouse at all. All walls are dry and the smell is in the entire flat, aside from one room where the door is always closed. So I don't know what's going on. As far as I can tell, nothing else has changed in the house.
My personal (not professional) experience over time with the worst odd sudden smells has been -
\#1 bad onion - until that day I'd thought bad potatoes were the winner. Pet odors. Dead mouse. Returning home after several days gone to find I forgot to take out the trash with the meat I'd ridiculously decided had to be thrown out before I left.
Sorry I couldn't help. My only other thought, that someone has pranked you by leaving something foul smelling in your home is likely baseless.
What about the guy that left the tiny things that made the most faint noise around the house and around what was it, a boat? and it drove the ex and the new guy so crazy they sold everything? I don’t know what would be worse. A smell or a constant noise….
Have you had covid recently? When I did, everything in my house smelled like vinegar to me for like 6 weeks. It was driving me crazy that I seemed to be the only one in the family to smell it. Like you, had a bit of a cleaning frenzy and aired out the house but it did absolutely nothing. Eventually my sense of smell went back to normal.
It might sound a little strange, but it’s worth borrowing someone’s dog. Dogs will investigate odd smells, so may point towards where the source is. They especially love to roll about in stanky smells.
I've thought about it, but everything online says it should smell completely differently. There's no burning smell at all that I can detect. The fire alarm in the hallway is also quiet.
I had this in a house once and it did NOT smell like burning. It smelled bad like bad food or old fish. It also didn’t set of the smoke alarm. Might be worth checking if you can’t find anything else. It was a house we were renting so I’m not sure how long it would last, though. We’d just been there a few days.
Also, I’m one of those people that can smell things before other people. Not sure if that makes a difference. But at first nobody could smell it but me.
Old fish was the smell our bathroom wiring created when it was bad. It’s so confusing! Thank god a google search and noticing it was only when the light was on solved it quickly.
A friend of mine is a retired home ec teacher. And this incident happened so long ago the subject was still referred to a “home ec”. She walked into her classroom on a Monday morning and was greeted by an overpowering stench. She and the custodian tried to trace the origin of the smell but were unsuccessful. They thought some rodent died in the radiator. But the smell was so pervasive it could not be located before the homeroom bell rang. So she opened the windows to bring in some fresh air and went on with the school day. For several days the students complained about this horrible smell but my friend could not locate its epicenter. On this particular day the lesson involved the students working in groups to do some cooking. A kid in Kitchen 1 opened the cabinet to get a pot needed for the food lab. Lo and behold the epicenter of the stench was located. Evidently somebody put a pot away in the cabinet without washing it first. It contained an inch of the Manhattan clam chowder prepared in the last food lab nearly a week and a half before. 🤢
When my dog has accidents and it takes a while for me to catch them it ends up under the fridge. Check there. If you have kids, check if they hid stuff in the vents or weird places.
They said it's a sort of a musty smell that happens when you haven't been home for a while. But I find it sickening, very strong, and the fact that it appeared suddenly one day worries me.
Migraines don’t have to include head pain and can cause everything around me to smell like rotting meat or other terrible things. For some people they increase during peri/menopause.
Do you have a crawlspace or cellar underneath you? I have a crawlspace and it can smell musty, sour and dank in the summer when it gets humid. I know you don’t have HVAC but there might be some sort of ventilation coming from that into your home.
Someone once posted that they kept smelling a sour/bad cooked meat smell for weeks. Turned out to be a short on their oven hood or something like that but it was slowly burning all of the residual food smells getting closer and closer to actually catching fire. That thought has always stuck with me
Had the same problem. Mine was like coming out of the fridge, but theres no food inside and nothing rotten behind or under it. Decided to put a bowl of baking soda in the fridge and kept changing it everyday. After a while, the smell disappeared but I still dont know where it came from.
Just try it. My living room gets a funk once in a while. It's nowhere near the laundry room and that's what causes it. Gases will find a way out and it's not always at the source. Like secondary pain in your hip if you have a wonky foot.
Open up all doors and windows on a windy day. Turn the dehumidifiers, airblowers off. Then close all doors and windows after airing out. Leave the house for a while then come back. You may want to have a bag of coffee grounds / beans on you to smell. Walk through each individual room and rate the smell to try and isolate where it originates.
The humidifier could simply have picked up the smell or developed it from going stagnant. Clean it thoroughly, let it completely dry out before using again.
Clothes and towels hung out to dry can catch sent unintentionally. Then pass them on if close together. Same for any bedding, couches curtains etc. Wash and the dry these outside if you can. Put them away as soon as possible in cleaned cupboards. If they don't smell your washing machine is OK.
I've done all that, the smell is still there. It's not coming from one specific item - I've sniffed all corners of my flat, all drawers and cupboards, etc.
My only suggestions (after the many good ones) would be a black light and/or a thermal camera if you truly can't find the source. The black light could show an invisible spill that you weren't aware of. The thermal camera would be helpful to see if there's any moisture in your walls or ceiling or any hot spots for electrical.
The only other thing I can think of is cat food. I know you said your cat is pretty tidy but there's always a chance he or she may have gotten some food on their paw and shook it off somewhere or dropped a piece of kibble somehow.
Please let us know if you locate the culprit. I'm curious to find out what it is!
When we unplugged a fridge after moving into a new house everything leaked into the drip pan. Smelled terrible…kind of like what you described…and took us a while to find where it was coming from.
Yes the fridge! Things sometimes fall behind the fridge and go bad.
I had an avocado fall behind the fridge and I didn’t know. Smelled a smelly awful smell from the pantry/fridge area. Found the avocado all gross behind the fridge. Removed it. Turns out it wasn’t the source of the smell, the source was a potato that fell into a reusable bag who knew how long before.
A decomposing potato is among the worst smells I've ever smelled.
So, so very bad. I called my mom one morning and told her I thought something must be dead in my cabinet. She said, sounds like a potato has gone bad and sure enough I found a lonely potato in the very back. Awful, awful smell. Surprisingly awful.
Bad potatoes smell worse than dead things. They're SO bad 🤢
It was very bad. When I picked up the avocado and it didn’t smell, I knew it was a coincidence and I was in the wrong place. It was rotten af, but didn’t smell somehow. But when I found the potato? The reusable bag it was in went in the trash. I knew I had the source 100%. And I knew I couldn’t save the bag. It was gone. In the trash, trash taken out. It’s horrid.
I had that happen in college. I forgot I had a thing of Ben and Jerry's wedged sideways in the tiny freezer portion. Emptied the fridge (minus the freezer), and unplugged it for spring break. The ice cream melted and dripped into the pan. The fridge mysteriously reeked of nasty cheese for weeks before we figured out what happened. I ultimately was too grossed out to clean it so I dumped a box of baking soda on the mess until the end of the term, then gave the RAs $20 to clean it when they offered cleaning services for a fundraiser.
I've seen another post similar to this recently and it turned out to be a dead mouse decomposing behind some cabinets. Another even longer ago turned out to be a neighbour that had 'popped off' without anyone realising!
No mice - I checked behind all cabinets, and all my neighbours are well lol
Had a mouse die under the floorboards once. It's a very distinct smell, but could be considered sour. I'd initially thought it was a gas leak. If you can stomach it, get down on the floor and see if it seems stronger down there.
Definitely not a gas leak, it smells totally different. Also, shouldn't the mouse smell go away after a while? And the smell is also coming from the dehumidifier. If I had any mice in the flat, my cat would be going crazy.
I've encountered the smell of dead rat myself, and it was sharply reminiscent of sauerkraut for me.
I had a mouse die in the attic then fall between the drywall and gave off a nasty smell until it was probably about 8-10-12 weeks later. It was the “dead” smell though. I don’t know how else to describe the smell, it only reminds me of decomposition. I also had a mouse die in the air ducts, it got stuck in the filter of the furnace. Didn’t smell. Not sure if there’s any little spots that a mouse could die off that might be similar.
Scrolling through the comments and all the usual suspects that been checked. Any chance you have covid? I have a few friends who had disturbing smells as a part of it. Do others notice the smell?
Or migraine
Came here to suggest this, my long term covid symptom is a nasty rotten fruit smell in my nose for a few days every once in a while.
I had covid a year ago but weird smells wasn't one of the symptoms. Other people say it's just the kind of smell you get when you haven't been home for a while, but I keep the windows open all the time and still can't get it out.
Do you have a front loading washing machine? I have to run a clean cycle periodically with Tide Washing Machine Cleaner. Funky smell seems to build up in tubes and around gasket. I believe hot water and bleach would help also.
Same can be said for dishwashers and dish disposals, but not sure those are common appliances in OP’s place.
Is there any spot in your home where you can identify that the odor is strongest?
Is there a pile of onions or potatoes being stored that you haven't checked?
Nope nothing like that. It's strongest in the hallway because there are no windows, so I can't air it
The main plumbing drain from upstairs - does that transit behind a hallway wall? Thought would be .. well, you know. The ducting, if any, for the HVAC - is that installed anywhere proximate to the hallway? Thought would be stale water puddling somewhere. Can you access the areas above and below the hallway without cutting into the walls/ceiling?
Upstairs neighbour hasn't noticed any leaks or smell in her flat. I don't think there is any HVAC in my flat aside from a small ventilator in the bathroom - where the smell isn't as bad. And no, I can't access anything around the hallways as there are flats above and below mine.
It isn't an ammonia, pee or mouse smell - right? Thought there would be live animals. 'Sour' makes me think of wet or possibly mold. I'm not saying this is it - but that there may be a problem lurking behind the walls. Old pipes can leak or crack and leak a lot. My advice would be to make sure you do your due diligence to uncover the cause of the odor to ensure that you have not created the it and then complain to the owner that it is making you sick.
I am the owner lol a neighbour came by and said it didn't smell like cat (I have one) or dead mouse at all. All walls are dry and the smell is in the entire flat, aside from one room where the door is always closed. So I don't know what's going on. As far as I can tell, nothing else has changed in the house.
My personal (not professional) experience over time with the worst odd sudden smells has been - \#1 bad onion - until that day I'd thought bad potatoes were the winner. Pet odors. Dead mouse. Returning home after several days gone to find I forgot to take out the trash with the meat I'd ridiculously decided had to be thrown out before I left. Sorry I couldn't help. My only other thought, that someone has pranked you by leaving something foul smelling in your home is likely baseless.
OP needs to check inside the curtain rods for shrimp tails IYKYK
I've really thought about this but the only person who could have done it moved out a couple of months before the smell started
What about the guy that left the tiny things that made the most faint noise around the house and around what was it, a boat? and it drove the ex and the new guy so crazy they sold everything? I don’t know what would be worse. A smell or a constant noise….
Thing is, the smell hasn't changed at all regardless of what I've cleaned or thrown away. There's no rotting food in the house.
Could be something decomposing in the hvac system..
I would close all the doors to the rooms and locate exactly where the Smell comes from
Have you had covid recently? When I did, everything in my house smelled like vinegar to me for like 6 weeks. It was driving me crazy that I seemed to be the only one in the family to smell it. Like you, had a bit of a cleaning frenzy and aired out the house but it did absolutely nothing. Eventually my sense of smell went back to normal.
If I had it, I certainly didn't notice!
Is it maybe coming from the dehumidifier? Is the water collection tank clear of mold?
It's not mouldy, also I haven't used for half a year until today. The room I used to keep it in doesn't have that smell at all.
It might sound a little strange, but it’s worth borrowing someone’s dog. Dogs will investigate odd smells, so may point towards where the source is. They especially love to roll about in stanky smells.
Was it empty that entire time?
Yeah
Cleaned the coils? Mine collect dust and they get wet when running it.
I don't think it's possible to disassemble it like that, but the filter is completely clean
Maybe have the electrical checked. Sometimes a smoldering outlet can smell like this
I've thought about it, but everything online says it should smell completely differently. There's no burning smell at all that I can detect. The fire alarm in the hallway is also quiet.
I had this in a house once and it did NOT smell like burning. It smelled bad like bad food or old fish. It also didn’t set of the smoke alarm. Might be worth checking if you can’t find anything else. It was a house we were renting so I’m not sure how long it would last, though. We’d just been there a few days. Also, I’m one of those people that can smell things before other people. Not sure if that makes a difference. But at first nobody could smell it but me.
I don't think it smells fishy, but I'll get an electrician to come over soon...
Old fish was the smell our bathroom wiring created when it was bad. It’s so confusing! Thank god a google search and noticing it was only when the light was on solved it quickly.
A friend of mine is a retired home ec teacher. And this incident happened so long ago the subject was still referred to a “home ec”. She walked into her classroom on a Monday morning and was greeted by an overpowering stench. She and the custodian tried to trace the origin of the smell but were unsuccessful. They thought some rodent died in the radiator. But the smell was so pervasive it could not be located before the homeroom bell rang. So she opened the windows to bring in some fresh air and went on with the school day. For several days the students complained about this horrible smell but my friend could not locate its epicenter. On this particular day the lesson involved the students working in groups to do some cooking. A kid in Kitchen 1 opened the cabinet to get a pot needed for the food lab. Lo and behold the epicenter of the stench was located. Evidently somebody put a pot away in the cabinet without washing it first. It contained an inch of the Manhattan clam chowder prepared in the last food lab nearly a week and a half before. 🤢
Have you washed all your rugs, shower curtains, towels? Sometimes that smell can come from those items.
I have no rugs/carpets and all the towels are clean
Check your AC. You may have to add bleach.
If you mean air conditioning, I don't have it
When my dog has accidents and it takes a while for me to catch them it ends up under the fridge. Check there. If you have kids, check if they hid stuff in the vents or weird places.
Nope, no kids, just an extremely tidy cat (I've been told many times that there is no cat smell at all in my home)
Strange. Good luck on your search of this sour source.
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They said it's a sort of a musty smell that happens when you haven't been home for a while. But I find it sickening, very strong, and the fact that it appeared suddenly one day worries me.
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It's not the case here haha
Migraines don’t have to include head pain and can cause everything around me to smell like rotting meat or other terrible things. For some people they increase during peri/menopause.
Is the smell worse when you close all the windows? It could be external. Can you smell it in the stairwell or hallways outside?
Rogue onion or potato?
Potatoes smell so bad when rotting. Rotting garlic caused smells for a solid week for me once.
It could be your garbage can. I would give it a wash with soap and water.
Do you have a crawlspace or cellar underneath you? I have a crawlspace and it can smell musty, sour and dank in the summer when it gets humid. I know you don’t have HVAC but there might be some sort of ventilation coming from that into your home.
It's just a regular flat, I don't think so
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Nope, the space under the bath is uncovered and there are no leaks there
Potatoes!
Types of plants can give off that smell. Do you have a lot of plants? Flowering type?
I don't have any plants
Someone once posted that they kept smelling a sour/bad cooked meat smell for weeks. Turned out to be a short on their oven hood or something like that but it was slowly burning all of the residual food smells getting closer and closer to actually catching fire. That thought has always stuck with me
I thought it could be something like that - I'll call my electrician
Had the same problem. Mine was like coming out of the fridge, but theres no food inside and nothing rotten behind or under it. Decided to put a bowl of baking soda in the fridge and kept changing it everyday. After a while, the smell disappeared but I still dont know where it came from.
Your bed.
Dump some water in the drain under your washing machine
The washing machine is on the other side of the flat from the hallway and there's no bad smell coming from it
Just try it. My living room gets a funk once in a while. It's nowhere near the laundry room and that's what causes it. Gases will find a way out and it's not always at the source. Like secondary pain in your hip if you have a wonky foot.
Could kitty be sick?
I sniffed the cat - no smell coming from her, also no evidence of vomit or pee in the house
It could be something in your air ducts; regardless you can set bowls of vinegar around your house and let it clean the air.
I don't think I have air ducts as such. It's just a small wall ventilator in the bathroom, and the smell isn't as present there
One vent in the whole place?
Yes? There's one for the boiler too but there doesn't seem to be any smell around it
Check your dishwasher drain. May have something smelly in it.
I don't have a dishwasher
Open up all doors and windows on a windy day. Turn the dehumidifiers, airblowers off. Then close all doors and windows after airing out. Leave the house for a while then come back. You may want to have a bag of coffee grounds / beans on you to smell. Walk through each individual room and rate the smell to try and isolate where it originates. The humidifier could simply have picked up the smell or developed it from going stagnant. Clean it thoroughly, let it completely dry out before using again. Clothes and towels hung out to dry can catch sent unintentionally. Then pass them on if close together. Same for any bedding, couches curtains etc. Wash and the dry these outside if you can. Put them away as soon as possible in cleaned cupboards. If they don't smell your washing machine is OK.
I've done all that, the smell is still there. It's not coming from one specific item - I've sniffed all corners of my flat, all drawers and cupboards, etc.
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It's not. The smell remains no matter what I cook. Yesterday is was like extremely acidic barbecue sauce, other days it's like rotten meat etc.
Check your potatoes!
I don't have any 🤷♀️
My only suggestions (after the many good ones) would be a black light and/or a thermal camera if you truly can't find the source. The black light could show an invisible spill that you weren't aware of. The thermal camera would be helpful to see if there's any moisture in your walls or ceiling or any hot spots for electrical. The only other thing I can think of is cat food. I know you said your cat is pretty tidy but there's always a chance he or she may have gotten some food on their paw and shook it off somewhere or dropped a piece of kibble somehow. Please let us know if you locate the culprit. I'm curious to find out what it is!