Persistent smell permeates kitchen shelving
Stench lingers in lazy susan despite homeowner’s best efforts to get rid of it
A how-to guru advises readers on the best way to remove a stubborn odour from a lazy susan in the kitchen.
Q A few weeks ago, I bought a watermelon and put it on my granite kitchen counter, over a seam. After about a week, I smelled an awful odour, touched the watermelon, and realized it was soft and oozing fermented liquid. I threw it away and cleaned the granite, but the awful smell remained. Then I opened the corner cabinet and realized that the watermelon juice had seeped through and leaked onto a wooden lazy susan below. I cleaned all sticky spots but the nauseating smell remains, even though I have since sprayed Lysol cleaner in the cabinet and put in a deodorizer. Is there a way to remove the lazy susan so I can clean more thoroughly? A You could probably remove the top lazy susan shelf by emptying it and removing screws that hold it to a swivel plate. Or, if you don’t see any screws, you could try rotating the shelf until the opening in it reveals a mounting plate with screws you can remove. This would give you access to the fixed shelf under the lazy susan, allowing you to clean up anything that leaked through.
But unless that occurred, you probably won’t gain anything by removing the lazy susan. The persistent smell could be in the things that are on the shelf if you put them back after you cleaned. Cardboard is very absorbent. Try taking everything out, including on the lower lazy susan shelf, and see if that helps.
While the shelves are empty, get a flashlight and peer upward to see whether there is any residue on the back of the stone or the top of the cabinet. Cabinets are typically built as boxes, which means a layer of plywood is usually underneath the granite. But corner sections of cabinets are sometimes framed in place, in which case you would see stone. Of course, if you see evidence of the watermelon leak, clean up the remains.
The leaking liquid could have wicked into the top of the cabinet box or any levelling compound between the cabinet and the stone. But short of removing the countertop, there is really no way to clean there. The best you could do is to try to seal in whatever is there. Fill the gap in the granite seam and paint the inside roof of the cabinet with shellac, which seals against odours and sticks to most finishes used on cabinets.
Shellac could also be the remedy if the lazy susan shelf is stained, which would be a sign that the leak penetrated the finish on the wood. And as a final remedy, remember that air circulation helps odours dissipate over time. Consider removing the doors on the corner section for a while.