# That wormy smell?



## lauraann (Aug 16, 2009)

How can you get rid of that wormy smell? Sometimes the glasses, plates, silverwear and pots have terrible odor. I have smelled it at other peoples homes and in restaurants. I never smell it on plastic. I usually smell it when meat or eggs are being prepared.

Why does this happen? What is it? What can be done to prevent it?

TIA


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## von milash (Jul 1, 2009)

where's the :sicktomystomach: smilie. 

have you had your sniffer checked by an otolaryngologist? Not really something that should ever be smelled in any clean kitchen, IMO.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

What do worms smell like? :crazy:


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Guess worms smell like dirt....you'd have to ask a young child what they taste like : Prob like dirt. 

What do you mean by "wormy" smell? Does it remind you of anything else which might be more familiar to others? Are you a vegetarian, and perhaps its the smell of meat you don't like?

Just trying to get some idea what might be the cause....

Maybe its the smell of the dishwashing machine powder that hasn't been rinsed properly off the plates. Do you smell it more when you are closer to the kitchen? Plastic tends not to get into dw'ers, as the results can be ugly, so you wouldn't get that smell from them.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I don't know about worms, but eggs can leave a smell on dishes and glasses. My husband is particularly sensitive to this. (I sometimes save egg yolks in a glass or cup when i've used just the whites and even dishwashered they seem to retain the smell, so he says). I'd guess using baking soda would help.


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## lauraann (Aug 16, 2009)

When I point it out others can smell it. I have smelled it at others peoples homes. (didnt point it out tho) We could smell it on a salad bar in a restaurant and couldnt even eat.

Yes! The smell is like an eggy smell.
The worst is when you boil hotdogs. The pot afterwards smells horrible! 


We have also smelled it in the bathroom sink on a hot day.

Someone must know what Im talking about....

Its not that things need cleaned. We are very clean. Its not an everyday occurance.
We practally keep kosher! Still at times the odor reappears. Mostly in the summer.

Sometimes we will get a glass of water and the glass will have an unpleasant odor.
It never happens with a plastic tumbler just glass, ceramic and metal.

Maybe it Lake Eries water?


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

I believe that it is a residue of the water used, and that stands in drains. Fill a glass with water leave it, take another glass empty and towl dried next to it . leave it a day .next day pour out water see if glass smells, and check if other glass smells Could be sulpher in water, that would be eggy smell. Only way you will= find out is to do experiments like this.


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## von milash (Jul 1, 2009)

that was actually my first thought too Ed. sulfur. But as you said, sulfur smells like eggs. Up north they also get a lot of iron in the water wich smells very bad. It's pretty harmless, but stinks, makes the water taste funny, and is severe cases can stain laundry. You can also have what is called bacteria, but I don't know a whole lot about it.

At this point I think her best bet is to wash something in mild bleach and see if the smell go away. But I wouldn't necessarily suggest washing everything in bleach and then drinking/eating form those dishes. 

What state/area do you live in? Geography can play a huge role...


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Nothing wrong with ingesting some hypochloride (bleach) you do it when you are swimming in a chlorine pool , and a lot of water supplies have it already added.


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## lauraann (Aug 16, 2009)

We are in Cleveland Ohio. Thanks for the tips. This is a serious situation for me. I already have issues with eating. Now I dont want to eat in my own clean home. We are very clean. I cant have anyone over. I do not want to be embarassed. But again we have smelled this odor at other peoples homes. So it not just our place. The odor seems to appear when we cook eggs, pork and chicken. But not everytime. 

Ive tried putting a little bleach in the dishwasher. Im constantly cleaning the counters and stove top. I cannot use windex on my appliances because the oder will appear. I have to use antibacterial soap and water.

We have not been sick at all. I guess you might describe it as a slight fishy smell.

My dads gf said its a normal smell. But the rest of us are like Ooooh no!

Thinking back I have never smelled it when I was out of state.


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## von milash (Jul 1, 2009)

that's true.. but in either case it's in very low concentrations. The average person may make not be so careful is all I'm saying. 

I have a meet grinder that I clean with soap and water, then rinse with bleach to kill anything left behind, but I always give a final with clean water. The clean water rinse should always be last IMO... but in her case, that would be defeating the entire purpose. 


btw, master of science in chemistry here, so I know a thing or two about chemicals too.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Manganese in the water can leave an off odor.


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

Some other facts... glass is not porous and not absorb any odors, only hold on to one that is on the outside, so if the glass is clean and the odor is there, then you've got a film problem and that's coming from the water.

Here in FL, we have sulphur in our water so the rotten egg smell does occur in non treated water. However, in Cleveland, you shouldn't have that issue.

Another problem, with the odor, could be problems in your drains where the odor is coming from bad sewer drains which could result from improper venting to prevent the gases from backing up. That often happens in restaurants and does resemble a wet dish rag odor.

Try Ed's process of using a clean glass and another filled with water to see if the odor comes along. Plastic can easily absorb odors, and keep them, much more than other kitchen materials. But as I mentioned, glass will not HOLD an odor... ever... if it's clean. Odor will only come from a residue left on it.


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## docsmith (Aug 4, 2008)

I'm rather confused that you can smell it on glass but NOT plastic, it should be the other way around.

I'm also concerned that you smell it after using windex and with so many other things I use daily without a problem, and I don't keep an ultra clean kosher house. 

Either there is something specifically odd in your location or you have something specifically 'wrong' with your nose. Much like cilantro smells and tastes like crap to me but not 90% of the people, perhaps you have such an issue (though I'd expect others not to smell it).

Take a long drive and do some tests far away from home. Something aint kosher here.


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## natividad (Aug 4, 2009)

which part of cleveland do you live in? anywhere near LTV Steel in other words ohio city, tremont ect. the air is slighlty affected by whatever the heck they do there.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Don't use Windex. If the other blend works for you, use it.

A "fishy" smell would indicate ammonia/chlorine in the tap water. You can either use distilled water or go the route of buying a reverse osmosis filter to remove it from your tap water. The water source may be the problem, if you don't notice it everywhere you go, that place you don't smell it may have a different water treatment plant, or they may use filtered water. 

Give the distilled water a go (boil it in your kettle for dishwashing then mix with some cold distilled water so your don't boil your hands!). See if it makes a difference.

Hey, do you notice the odour in a steamy hot bathroom? That's when you'd tend to notice it most if it were ammonia/chlorine in the town/tap water.


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## lauraann (Aug 16, 2009)

I used to live in Parma. You could smell the sulfer (or whatever it is) in the air! Im back on the East side now.


When we smell this odor its always on glasses, cups, silver, pots and pans.
Never on plastic. I bought nice plastic plates to avoid using my dishes.


Im thinking meat and eggs are involved. I can boil pasta and not smell it (99.9% of the time).
If I boil hotdogs, microwave some left over chicken or make eggs for breakfast...it stinks. The plate will smell. Its not the dishes. I bought another set at Christmas and all new silverwear. I moved from my apartment to a house. Others can smell it and think its gross. 

Sometimes a cup of coffee will get the smell. If I rewash the cup sometimes it goes away sometimes it wont. Its not the dishwasher because its happening in 3 homes and 1 buffet type restaurant chain.

This has been going on for years. Im not the only one that smells it. 

I KNOW Its crazy! Thats why I posted.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

All municipal water supplies are required to post a analysis of what is in the water. That would be a starting point.


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