I wash dishes often with expencive fairy liquid. Allso I keep sink and dish accessories clean and hygienic as possible. Allmost all my dishes smell horrible and I have tried several tricks to get the smell out.
Answers (26)
Just a note that I just tried rinsing my smelly, good quality, ceramic dishes in cold water and it worked very well. I am curious if anyone knows if the smell is related to having an aluminum dishwasher. I have always wondered if there is a chemical reaction between the soap and the aluminum.
Ok people, I want to share my experience with the wet dog smell. Several years ago when our water heater was about 9 years old, the smell started. I first noticed it in my color treated hair when the sun would heat my hair, and I had never ever smelled that odor before. As time went on I noticed a similar odor on clothes washed in warm water, and then the smell in the dishwasher and on the dishes became unbearable. At the time we decided we were over it the water heater was now 17 years old, still heating water like a champ. I got sick of worrying about my hair odor and the stinky dishes and called a plumber. Now the crux: when the plumber drained the old water heater, my husband said the water smelled just like that wet dog. Now the new water heater is installed and my hair smells only of shampoo when I'm in the sun
This happens to me as the weather warms up. It's often associated with having eaten eggs off the dishes and it spreads to the rest of the dishes from the sink. I believe it is a bacteria and I use a TBS or 2 of bleach in the dishwater. I also wipe the counters with this. Clears it right up! My problem is that the dishes washed in the dish WASHER also stink at this time of year. I've dipped them in bleach water and this gets rid of it but kind of defeats the purpose of the dishwasher. I"m afraid to put bleach in the dishwasher. :-(
I've been having this wet dog smell on my dishes for a very long time, with different dishwashers, in different houses, different cities and different provinces. New houses, old houses, new dishwashers, old dishwashers. Now I live in a newly built house and I know for a fact that it's coming from the outside but not only when it's humid or hot. I just did a test. I took a clean glass from my cupboard that I know had been washed in the dishwasher and I smelled it and it had no odor, I opened my patio door (it's sunny and cold 3°C outside) and put my glass out and waited like a minute and wet dog smell. Then I took that same glass washed it in the sink with dish soap, dried it and put it outside, took a little longer to smell like wet dog but it did smell like wet dog. My conclusion is that its the outside. Since I was a kid I never liked when my mom put my clothes to dry on clothe line outside because it always had the wet dog smell. That's why as an adult I never put my clothes outside. It has nothing to do with eggs on dishes, or clogged waterlines, water supplies, dishwasher soap or dish soap. Do the test and you'll see.
I FINALLY figured this out. Man, did it take a while!
Yes, having the door/windows open makes ALL the difference. Here's why and bear with me... I know it sounds strange, but it's POLLEN.
We're having a particularly bad pollen spring (pine pollen which is quite hypoallergenic so it coats the world and actually drifts against curbs, but doesn't make you sneeze at all). If I drink a glass of water with the house closed up, it's fine. The moment I open the porch slider, my water starts to taste wet-doggy. It only takes a few minutes.
The way I figured out the cause seemed to be pollen, was when the stove was heavily dusted and I decided to turn the largest burner on to see if the pollen would burn or not (I've never had enough to find out if it was flammable).
Well let me tell you, my house soon smelled like a wet dog! After it cooled, when I spritzed the surface to let me rinse the rest of the pollen away on a paper towel, the towel reeked of wet-dog.
I wet a new paper towel and smelled it, but there was no wet-dog stink to that one. Wiped the counter top with that same paper towel... wet dog stink.
But yours did it with the door/window open too?
Maybe spores? I get an allergy-like reaction in my nose every spring just when the snow melts off of the old, rotting leaves from last fall.
Right! Trust me on this one. Before emptying the dishwasher, close all the windows and doors ten minutes before. Make sure they are dry and put away all dishes in cupboards. The cooler the outside air, the more chance you have of getting the smell. You will get the same smell on a glass table if you wash it with water and don't close the house up. You can also get it by leaving tea in a cup/mug close to an open door but, strangely, if you take the drink outside to drink it rarely happens!
We've had this problem for years but solve it by simply closing off ventilation temporarily.
It is in the water and it is called geosmin (trans-1, 10-dimethyl-trans-9-decalol) and MIB (2-methylisoborneol). It is in municipal water systems and well water and bleach does not get rid of the smell. Hot water activates or intensifies the smell. Hand drying removes most of the water on dishes that is probably why you dont smell it or just faintly smell it especially if the plate is heated. Look up “Geosmin removal”. This will explain different methods of trying to remove it from our water supply. Also geosmin (trans-1, 10-dimethyl-trans-9-decalol) and MIB (2-methylisoborneol) is outside and many people complain of how nasty they smell after coming inside after being outdoors. You can google “what is geosmin” first but that is some pretty heavy reading and deals more with the smell it creates outdoors so I would go with “Geosmin removal” 1st. That deals more with how it is in our water(it is not harmful but very unappealing to our sense of smell).
I've been struggling with this wet dog/ metallic smell but not on my dishes but on my skin. I tested my water and it said it was "heavy water" meaning the calcium, magnesium and other chemicals in the pipes/water made it heavy and causes dryness of skin and I feel like when I sweat I produce this odor of metals and wet dog.
I notice people saying that the air coming from the window react with the porous dishes to cause the odor but I notice that when someone smells that someone can get used to their odor or tolerate it to an extent in closed environments but when you open a window you can notice how bad something smells. I just hope I get something for this smell on my skin. I'm showering with gallons of water more now. Just hope my 2 cents are put into consideration.
I have had the same problem for years. Even thru a new dishwasher, air drying, heat drying, newer hot water heater, hand washing, various types of dw detergent. I honestly think between taking phosphates out of soap and all the chemicals found in both water and air, there may be no way to solve the problem.
I too have had this for years. As soon as you open the door. Outside air causes dishes, glasses, counter tops and sink to smell like wet dog. Cleaning with bleach gets rid of smell but only for a short time. Sometimes when outdoors clothing will smell like that too. Not everything that is wiped with water will smell. My kitchen table (laminate) never smells. Hot food quickly on a plate or ice cubes in a glass when door is open helps keep odor at bay temporarily tho. The ac in summer band aids the smell. A lot of homes, do not have this problem with wet dog smells. We have to use disposables if we picnic outside. No answer, but finally seeing others having the same problem. Wondering if the water supply line has some kind of build up
It has nothing to do with water supply lines. Like I stated on my earlier comment above, I've had that smell happened in new houses, old houses, new dishwashers, old dishwashers, so it's not built up. It's the outside air that causes that. I did the test.
I know many people have varying opinions, but I'll just post my testing here, which I believe to be truth. I had this wet dog smell in my new dishwasher as well. So, I did some testing at my sisters, also a newer Bosch, different town, I did a quick cycle and they came out stinky. Then I went to Maui on vacation, I used their new LG and ran a quick cycle and yes they came out stinky. So out of my 3 tests (including my house) the reason for this smell is simple, the quick wash sucks, on new machines. I never had this problem in the past. I ran the normal cycle on all 3 of the machines stated above and the smell went away. I think this answers the question, as I've tried 3 different brands, 3 different sources of water, and 3 different dish wear sets etc. All tests ended up with a solution, so therefor I can't imagine it could be any different for any of you folks. I also tried different detergents etc, nothing works except using the normal cycle setting. Good luck on this very strange topic. I hope this helps.
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When I did my test last month it was still cold where I live so there was no pollen out, there weren't buds on trees yet. I think it's just the outside air.