How do I rid my kitchen/sink of a disgusting smell?

Janis
by Janis

I have tried all the solutions I have found. Vinegar, baking soda, really hot water Clorox, and even a commercial product that foams. What is left that might help me? I am out of options.

  5 answers
  • GrandmasHouseDIY GrandmasHouseDIY on Apr 17, 2019

    Hi Janis, have you tried taking off the drain trap and cleaning it out?

  • Annie Annie on Apr 17, 2019

    Have you tried lemon juice? It sounds like you have tried lots of different things, I wonder if something might be stuck in your sink trap? If all else fails, turn your water off and disconnect the trap.

  • Lynn Sorrell Lynn Sorrell on Apr 17, 2019

    do you have garbage disposal? Grind lemons cut in halves with rind in it regularly; Do you have dishwasher? unhook dishwasher drainage hose and clean it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHwG7PsF2vQ more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9ZodwDwYcU to clean trap with out removing pour dawn dish into drain openings to coat them then(so baking soda sticks) add 1 cup baking soda in each drain add 1 cup vinegar let it will fizz let sit over night would be best then flush with 1 gallon boiling water in each drain.

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    • Lynn Sorrell Lynn Sorrell on Apr 18, 2019

      use a round (new of course)stiff toilet bowl brush to clean inside of disposal and rubber splash guard with some Dawn dish & baking soda

  • Debbs Debbs on Apr 17, 2019

    If it is in the sink drains....You may want to remove the pea trap (that “U” shaped portion of the drain under the sink) and use a good old fashioned bottle brush to “scrub” the pipes clean, both the “U” piece and the straight pipe from the sink (every part you can get to). The garbage disposal should also get a good cleaning – for this task UNPLUG the disposal then remove the rubber gasket stopper flange thing and get in there and scrub it with every measure you can…bristle dish scrubber, 3m sponge scour pad, etc. You may even remove it if it is easier and you are handy. The odors come from the food waste and resulting “gunk” that gets stuck in there. I do a weekly deep clean in my kitchen with cabinet wipe down, microwave scrub out and everything gets a bleach wipe down. The sink gets a scour. I fill the basin with hot water and bleach, when I am done with the bleach water, I fill sink to capacity, pull the drain plug and run the garbage disposal till the sink is empty. This keeps the “gunk” from building up. I also use screen mesh drain covers to catch most of the food waste before it has a chance to get in there, dump it into the trash every time dishes get rinsed and run them through the dishwasher every cycle. The exhaust fan screens over the stove may also be contributing to the odors…it is also a good practice to soak those weekly or mine are metal so I just run them through the dishwasher as well. Keeping a clean fridge will also abate odors…wipe spills and drips out weekly and give it an entire empty cleaning twice yearly. Trash containers under the sink can lead to missing the bin when tossing in kitchen waste and trash. Recycle bins can get “gunk” even when you rinse your recycle materials well. Washing out your bins monthly (or more frequently if a busy household) will stop odor causing bacteria from growing and cleaning the inside of the under sink cabinet will also be beneficial.

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    • Debbs Debbs on Apr 17, 2019

      No problem - I have smelled that "kitchen odor" before...it would be hard to live with it lingering every day.

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Dec 11, 2020

    Hello Janis.

    Have you cleaned out your sink drain, Dishwasher drain etc. If all is well with them , then, check the outside for smells seeping in. If everything checks out, then Call in a plumber to sort it out, could be outside drain clogged up with fat or Lard build up!