Kitchen Sink Odor

[lucy (archive)]

Need advice.. the kitchen sink has started to have a bad odor the past couple of weeks, on the disposal side. I have tried the citrus rind thing.. grinding them with a few ice cubes. I have tried the baking soda and vinegar and then boiling water after it foams for a bit. These work for 1-2 days at most. Anyone else encountered this or have any other suggestions? tia, lucy

 

[Speedy Jim]

Need advice.. the kitchen sink has started to have a bad odor the past couple of weeks, on the disposal side. I have tried the citrus rind thing.. grinding them with a few ice cubes. I have tried the baking soda and vinegar and then boiling water after it foams for a bit. These work for 1-2 days at most. Anyone else encountered this or have any other suggestions? tia, lucy

It could be mold growth *inside* the drain piping.
All of the piping and fittings which are *upstream*
of the trap can give off odors. Frequently, soap crud
and grease build up and provide a perfect place for
molds to grow.

Sometimes pouring bleach down will help, but I've found that the long-term fix is to disassemble and clean out the pipe sections.

Just one possibility; there may be other causes.

Jim

 

[Ray (archive)]

I have found that using a brush once and a while to clean the inside walls, and particularly the upper portion of the garbage disposal will get rid of bad odors. The cleaning you described does not get the top areas. I also fill the sink full of water, add a bunch of bleach, pull the plug and let it drain. This will flood the entire inside of the disposal. Do not rinse - let the bleach stay on the disposal surfaces for an hour or so.

 

[lucy (archive)]

Thanks everyone.. it never occurred to me to clean the underside of the rubber flaps. duh.. that was the problem. Lots of black gunk (mold i guess) that had that same odor. Thanks again!
lucy