Dishwasher + Eggs = Wet Dog Smell

[mark_wpduet]

I've known this for years... It does NOT matter what type of detergent you use, the amount of hot water, extra long cycle.. If I put anything in the dishwasher that has EGG residue on it without rinsing it first, the dishes (most notably glasses) when you put the glass up to your mouth you get that smell..

For years if I use anything with eggs I rinse it before putting them in... I think this time the culprit was egg salad... I had cut a sandwich in half and didn't rinse the knife...right now I'm drinking out of a glass and it has that smell and I know exactly why..

It's CRAZY to me that eggs can survive the dish detergent and even the small amount of LCB I put in the dishwasher at the start..

I've brought this up before and some on here don't have this issue but I've always had this issue no matter where I've lived, what kind of dishwasher I have... the different detergents...different cycles... if there is egg residue on bowls - raw or cooked... it will always happen... BUT, say if you bake a cake, right? You put eggs in and mix the batter, but you don't rinse the cake batter bowl... It won't happen....I can't explain that one...

 

[littlegreeny]

Happens to me too. I also noticed it happens if the filter on my Whirlpool WDT730 is slightly dirty.

 

[DADoES]

 
I've never noticed that effect.  My water chemistry apparently isn't conducive to causing it.

 

[mrsalvo]

I’ve noticed that also. Dishes have a funky smell, very unpleasant and dishes don’t smell clean. This happens also when fixing tuna salad or some fish dishes.

 

[bradfordwhite]

You have to soak dishes with egg on them before putting in dw.  Especially if it's been cooked on.  Always soak it first.

 

[petek]

I've never encountered that problem and I go through a lot of eggs, at the very least a dozen a week. I have a very keen sense of smell too with the nose to prove it LOL. Wouldn't bleach be better added before the final rinse to really be effective ? Obviously inconvenient but maybe worth a test just to see

 

[bradfordwhite]

 

"dozen a week"?  Have you had your cholesterol checked?  That sounds like a heart attack brewing.  I don't even eat that much in a year. 

 

 

[chachp]

I have not noticed this either.

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">My husband's sense of smell is beyond normal.  If this was happening to us I might not notice it but he would.  We go through lots of eggs and I don't rinse anything.  Could it have something to do with the water?</span>

 

[logixx]

I get that smell at times, too. Not always, but certainly related to egg residue like making scrambled eggs.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I relieve myself from those fowl dishwasher odors by washing my machine empty with a packet of dishwasher cleaner—nearing the time to do it maybe after this coming load…

— Dave

 

[rp2813]

I know the smell, but have never had an issue with it from egg residue on machine washed items.  The latest incidents have been at my friend's apartment in a 1961 4-plex.  He doesn't have a dishwasher, and when I first smelled it while hand washing some dishes, I blamed it on peanut butter left on a knife or spoon that had been sitting in water.  The smell seemed to go away for a while, but recently I noticed it on glassware, and there was no peanut butter involved.

 

Around this same time, I used his shower and as I ran the hot water in the tub, it stunk like the glasses.  I asked my friend if he had noticed, and he said he had.  A few days later he advised that the landlord had told him the water for the complex would be shut off for repairs/maintenance to the heater.  I don't know exactly what was done, but the smell was gone after that.  The heater (electric) was set really high -- nearly scalding -- so I don't know if that had anything to do with it. 

 

[petek]

Sounds like suphur in the water, get's really awful when heated .

 

[maytaga806]

Never has happened in my Powerclean. I always load eggy bowls drippin, and all that’s left is the beautiful scent of cascade lemon!

 

[rp2813]

Pete, do you mean it goes from smelling like sulphur, which is already bad, to smelling like a wet dog when heated?

 

[combo52]

Rotten egg or sulfur smell from Dishwashers

The smell can come from the magnesium anode in the water heater.

I can’t imagine any dishwasher that can’t completely wash away egg and would spread it to the glasses, etc.

I’ve never had a customer. Tell me this, but a lot of people do rinse dishes.

John

 

[petek]

No, just the smell of water with sulphur in it which worsens as it's heated. Doesn't give a doggy smell.

 

[bradfordwhite]

One can get that in the water under a couple of different circumstances.
When I lived in that Central Minn. lake house in 2016 not only did I have the bacterial rust issue but that caused the smell as well.
Treatment can be tricky.

It really helps one to appreciate perfect water but that can take oxidation, filtration, chlorination, softening, and perhaps ozonation.

I wonder when you do laundry, do you notice stains that weren't there before?
Do the clothes come out still dirty?
Are the whites not so white?
Have you noticed a green haze in the bath tub?

 

[maytaga806]

In response to reply #5 it would not be a good idea to add bleach to the dishwasher considering the author has a stainless Maytag Jetclean I believe. Bleach and stainless steel don’t mix, it will dye the finish white in spots. My parents were using chlorinated cascade gel in our older Maytag jet clean, and you could tell where the detergent oozed down the door from the dispenser during the wash and it completely stained the stainless white from under the dispenser trailing to the floor of the machine. I demanded they stop using it when they got the new Maytag, and they now use cascade complete gel with is non chlorinated. Chlorine can only ever be used in white plastic tub machines, these brands need to put a warning on the labels cause most people don’t think twice about detergent they pull it from the shelf without reading anything on the back and I cannot imagine how many people this has happened to. Just add a label saying “Do not use this product in a stainless interior dishwasher” or something. But company’s like Proctor and gamble don’t think of things like that.

 

[littlegreeny]

I believe it has something to do with your water heater and the state of the anode (if it has one).

 

[mark_wpduet]

Not my hot water... My dishwasher is spotless.. this ONLY happens if I forget and put something with egg on it in the dishwasher... Otherwise, it never happens..

again... I've lived in 3 states and I've always noticed this happens with EGG no matter where I go...the dishwasher (and I've lived places with powercleans)

Oh and this isn't just me.. this is actually a "thing"

What's weird is that some people (even people with good smell) won't notice it, even if it's there... while others do.

 

[mark_wpduet]

More thoughts

It's not a sulfur or rotten egg smell... The smell seems to come from something in the egg that can't be broken down easily...and when the dishwasher is done, even though the dishes are spotless and well washed and rinsed...there's that hint of wet dog... Obviously you only notice it on glasses or cups..

Like I said, all I have to do to keep this from happening is just be sure to rinse the egg residue off of anything...but this knife with egg salad... I threw it in without rinsing it thinking.. that little bit of egg is not enough to cause that.. but it was enough (LOL)

I remember reading about the person who had a weird issue with a rotten egg smell and it was his water heater I think.... this is totally different... but I can see how it could be confused with something like that...

 

[angus]

I too am cursed with an overly sensitive nose and notice that same issue with eggs and raw poultry (chicken and turkey) whether washed in the DW or by hand in the sink. We have soft city water so it isn't the water heater or the water or it would happen all the time. my solution is to keep a large bowl with some bleach and cold water to rinse utensils, dishes and the sink as well before washing them. door gone and no issue.

One of the reasons I'm not a fan of diner breakfasts is that I also notice that on glasses and flatware at the local diners and I find it pretty nauseating.

 

[awooff]

Egg

Since installing a new water heater 3 years ago - the smell spread in dw from egg has disappeared! Nothing else changed, not even the detergent!

The combo of an older wh (or dissolving anode rod) and egg must be the culprit?

 

[pierreandreply4]

dishwashers

i have a kitchenaid dishwasher since 2020 that replace a ge dishwasher i have to run hot water from the tap for a good 15 minute so the water that go in the dishwasher enters hot other wise the first fill is cold water in the dishwasher and have to rely on hitemp wash to heat the water

 

[mark_wpduet]

Well FYI... our water heater died... all electric...after 15 years... and we got another 40 gallon electric water heater Sept 2019. I wrote the date on it. This is not something specific to this house...I've noticed it all my life at different places...

anyway - I've never noticed it with poultry or anything else other than eggs...

and yes I don't eat out often but I remember noticing it in restaurants sometimes too and it is pretty nauseating I agree..

Whenever I've accidentally ran a load that has egg smell... the next load it's gone... I don't have to run dishwasher cleaner or anything... as long as there's no egg residue on the next load... it's completely gone...

 

[bradfordwhite]

As I've got older ...

It amazes me how particular the human animal can be about <span style="text-decoration: underline;">certain</span> things. We will notice things or are sensitive to certain things, we will nit pick certain things, go into extravagant details on on item, ....

and yet other things be completely oblivious to.

And there is no set rules about who is particular about what. Sure there might be groups of people who'd do something as silly as, oh i don't know, collect appliances or something, but ...
it makes us unique but also tends to give us the skills to do all the wonderful things that humans do.

 

I'm glad you know now the easy solution to getting rid of the egg smell so it doesn't affect you.

 

--

 

A really good example of this is a stained glass window.  We've seen them.  Some of them are so intricate and took someone months if not years to make along with the buildings they're installed in; yet (most) people seem oblivious to the messy power lines that hang only feet from such perfection.  

But then, there are some who've engaged about this issue and have organized a "beautification committee" and worked with the utility companies to have the streets above ground utilities buried where they are out of sight.

 

[awooff]

Just did the sniff test...

Mark i retract my earlier post here. Im searching for a new powder as kroger seems to have discontinued theirs - tried dollar store powder(detergent was clumped) which didnt remove cooked on egg on a stainless pan - 2nd round with kroger powder and i do have a slight egg odor on other items but egg was removed 100%.

Sani rinse was added to pots cycle which does seem to reduce that odor!

 

[mark_wpduet]

Yea - LOL

the egg is always completely gone and the dishes are clean... It's just that slight smell in glasses that really HITS you... or just "some" people who notice it while others don't..

I could always try the longest cycle on my maytag...which is Jetclean plus steam and I think it uses 12 gallons of water and runs for 3+ hours. That might remove it. LOL.. but it's just easier for me to rinse the egg off before loading. The thing that bugs me is why is this even a thing? I would think detergents would remove it but they don't... Again, I no some on here do not experience this... which I can't explain... other than the fact that it might be there, they just don't notice it...

I even notice that when I boiled eggs to make egg salad - I had washed the pot... and one of the eggs cracked during boiling...Even scrubbing that pot with hot water and palmolive...I could still slightly smell that EGG smell in the pot.. crazy!