On Monday, there was a nightmarish odor in my house. It had been creeping up on us for a couple of days and I was pretty sure I knew the origin, so we buckled down and tackled it.
It seemed much better after our work; there was some lingering, but that’s to be expected, right? We kept the windows open, lit candles, and waited for the smell to disappear entirely.
On Tuesday, it was still skulking about the house. Not bad, but not gone. We were patient. It was still much better than Day 1.
On Wednesday, it was actually worse. Is this possible? Then it struck me. Not one odor. Two. I searched my memory, and in my mind’s eye I found a forgotten bag of potatoes. I won’t tell you what else was in the bag, writhing and squirming, or what was oozing out of the bag, but it was the stuff nightmares are made of.
But this afternoon, my house smells better. Tomorrow, I hope the odor will be gone. I really, really hope.
And may I mention that we really prefer pasta and rice? Forgotten boxes of pasta and bags of rice never do what those potatoes did.
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I have seen first hand how badly a bag of forgotten potatoes can “wriggle”. Many years ago, I was helping a group of guy friends move out of their rental house and low and behold, in the back of the closet they used as a pantry- ugh! Needless to say, I let the guys tackle that clean up. I watch my potatoes quite closely as I will never forget that.
Oh goodness! I did that last summer. Not fun!
Rotten potatoes and onions are THE single WORST smell in the world. Yuck. I’ve never had them wriggle yet, though, so I understand your description of nightmarish. I would have called my dear hubby to put on his armour to tackle that one!
Hope all is sweeter tomorrow.
In Him
Meredith
PS Perry sent me a parcel that arrived yesterday. Whenever I get something with VF on it (and Perry specifically) I pray for you guys.
Good gosh, such a nightmarish experience
Jokes aside, I really hate bad food smells, too, especially the one lingering in the sink after cooking something with eggs… Yuk!
Love
Elena
This happened to us once before as well. I swear those potatoes couldn’t have been in the pantry for more than a couple of weeks, but when I was investigating a horrid smell I found *them*.
Something seeping from those potatoes literally ate through the paint in our pantry.
From that day on I’ve made sure potatoes stay in plain sight and are checked daily.
*shudders*
Oh, that was GROSE!
I found a box of potatoes just a couple of days ago, from the last time we went to the produce market. Fortunately the box “breathed” enough so they didn’t rot, they grew!
When I was pregnant with The Princess I became very intolerant of obnoxious odors. I thought the intolerance would diminish after she was born, but, alas, not so much. So, buy the big box of baking soda and apply liberally. I might want to come over some time.
As soon as I read the first paragraph, I had a feeling it was about potatoes, and it was! There is just something about that horrible smell….ugh. And when they get all smushy and liquidy…..**shudder*. It is quite bad. Glad that you don’t have to live with that smell anymore!:)
I KNOW that smell!! I went shopping at a discount grocery store once when I was pregnant, and bought some potatoes there. Within just a day or two my pantry smelled awful (to my super pregnancy nose). I couldn’t open the pantry for months without…well….we’ll stop there. Hope the smell leaves soon!
OH…gag.
Been there. Done that. And it wasn’t pretty.
YUCK!
Ick! I actually stopped buying potatoes unless I have a specific plan for them because I never use them up in time. I like pasta and rice better, too.
EWWW! I’ve had that happen, too. Not fun.
I am having this problem now. My husband and I are trying to get it out. How did you get the smell out. We left them on there fridge and juice ran down the back. Its so gross. I thought I had left diapers under the furniture or something.If you have any tricks on how to remove the smell please let me know.
We’ve all experimented with chemistry in one way or another. My passenger van has 4 rows of seats, and let’s just say the back row is the boys and I never, EVER, venture past the 3rd row. Well, last summer we had gone on a road trip and hadn’t done a great job of purging the van upon our return. Days later a Smell Of Unknown Origin slowly began. It wasn’t a vile smell right off… kinda familiar… a little odd… few days later… a little worse and a little more familiar. A week or so later…finally donned my HASMAT gear and ventured to the 4th row. Sure enough, a bag of apples had been cooking in our hot Atlanta van. Fermentation complete, the back of my van had become a homemade still!
I wonder if this is why my husband always liked instant potatoes. Maybe there is something from his past I don’t know about. LOL.