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).