Have had this stove for quite a few years now. It seems related to eggs. Wife and I cook a lot of eggs and if ANY, especially uncooked gets on the stove top it takes a hell of a cleaning to get rid of the smell. A chemist would know. I think there is some chemistry between the egg and the ceramic seems to produce an amine.

OK... I am joining the party a little late, but I think maybe I can be of some help.

I have a 13 year old Whirlpool with ceramic cooktop, and have experienced this problem a few times. The most important thing is to only use cleaning products on it when the cooktop is COMPLETELY COOL.

Here is my cleaning regimen:

1. I clean the cooktop after - and only after - the cooktop is completely cool. This is a crucial point. It's OK to wipe it off with plain water while still warm, but don't use any cleaning products on it while it is warm.

2. For cooked-on foods, I use Weiman glass cooktop cleaner ( any brand will probably work ) and the scrubby side of a BLUE 3M sponge. Don't use the green and yellow ones, as they will scratch anything. The blue ones don't scratch. Then I wipe off the residue with the sponge using only plain water before proceeding to the next step.

3. After the cooktop is cool and completely dry, I spray it liberally with plain Windex, then clean the entire thing with a paper towel. If you have grease spatter, you may have to repeat this step.

The most important thing is to make sure the cooktop is completely cool when you clean it, and also to let it dry completely ( so there is no lingering odor of Windex ) before heating it up. If it still smells like a swamp after cleaning, wait for it to dry completely, and give it the Windex treatment again.

This has worked well for me for the last 13 years. On the rare occasion when I clean it before it is completely cool, or it gets turned on too soon after cleaning, it will indeed smell like a swamp.

Happy cooking !

I am having the same problem with my 2 year old Frigidaire induction stove. I kept telling hubby that the kitchen stinks and he kept saying it was the garbage disposal or dishwasher, but I said it's over by the stove. I happened to lean way over today to clean behind it and I smelled it on the stove top! I checked inside the oven and the microwave and even smelled the microwave filters and it is definitely the stove top. I can't imagine anything is dead in there as there is no smell in the oven itself, just on the glass. I have used various ways to clean it.....stove top cleaner, Soft Scrub, just soap and water followed by Windex, and just wiping.....so I'm not sure what the problem is. I can try the Dawn and see what happens, but apparently it takes awhile for the smell to go away. This is ridiculous! How could glass smell??

I have a new Jenn aire downdraft glass top stove. I have the same smelly issue and was convinced it was the vent. The smell is worse than a wet dog.Now I need to see if it is the glass top. Is there any more feedback on the Better Life cleaner?

The better life cleaner works for us. We still occasionally get the smell but I believe it's due to not waiting until glass is completely clean. This is so absurd to even think we have to deal with a smell like this in our kitchen with something that prepares our food. Good luck!

I have owned two Samsung glass cook top stoves and both have had this 'funky' smell. I could wipe it down in the morning and by the afternoon that horrible odor permeates the kitchen. Nobody seems to know about this and it's not my imagination! I'll never buy Samsung again. Can't wait for this one to die. The reason I now have a second Samsung stove is because we moved from a condo and had to leave that stove with the unit and our new (old) house came with the same model Samsung stove.

I'm at a condo, just this week we had to get a new stove,because we have the same problem, my husband and boys said they can not smell it. But the order is so bad and it penetrate everything your clothes and the foods that are cooked. Yes it is the ceramic cooktops, it doesn't matter what NAME BRAND they all SMELL. My first STOVE was by GE. The ONE I just PURCHASED is By WHIRLPOOL they ALL have that ( chemical or wet dog funky smell ). I call the ( GE Manufacturing Co. ). They said maybe someone used the wrong cleaner in the selfclean oven. But it is the ceramic cooktops . I am going to get a Stove that's not Ceramic cooktops, I Can Not Put Up With The " FOUL ODOR". I don't like dealing with FOUL ODORS. Make a complaint to the Company. Hope everyone get the problem resolved.

Wow, this thread has been going for a long time! I landed here because I was looking for why my glass/china dishes sometimes smell like a wet dog (kind of a fishy smell) after coming out of the dishwasher. I have had the same problem when cleaning my glass table with Windex, and sometimes even when I mop my ceramic tile floors! As for my dishes, regular hand washing the stink off works a little, but it took a Magic Eraser to completely remove the smell. I feel pretty certain that it's a chemical thing, where something in my public water supply is mixing with a chemical in whatever cleaner I'm using... if anyone figures it out, let me know!

Kimiata,
You might get more response if you start a new thread, but we were having the same problem (fishy smell) with our new dishwasher too. We did all kinds of trial and error with different detergents (we even bought a supply of the old stuff with the old chemicals off the Internet) rinse aids or not, we even started cleaning the filter after every single use, blah, blah, blah... we couldn't figure it out. Finally hubby realized it was because we didn't have a "high loop" in the line. (We don't have an air gap either) So he pulled the dishwasher out and made sure the water line was installed correctly with a high loop. Problem solved!
So what had been happening was that dirty water from the disposal was backflowing into my dishwasher. YUCK!
There are apparently 3 methods to avoid that. An "air gap" is supposed to be the most fool proof method to avoid the problem and is code in some areas. (Apparently not ours), there is the high loop method where you just make sure the water line is situated so that a portion of it loops up above the height of the sink drain (hubby used some clamps to hold it in place in the back of the cabinet) and there was also some other method that people use to avoid this problem but now I can't recall what it was.
We have tried all the different things we were doing before (different detergents, rinse aids, and not cleaning the filter so often) and we haven't gotten the smell back since he made sure to make the high loop. We are a large family, we run our dishwasher on average twice a day, so we get plenty of opportunity to test this out. LOL!

I'm glad you got your stink figured out, lol. We do have an air gap, so I don't think that's our problem. But after posting, I found an article that said that said, "Another cause of this fish smell is the combination of chlorine and ammonia which together create a compound called Chloramine. This is often used to disinfect public water sources and can sometimes produce an unpleasant aroma in your water." That sounded so right for me, because I had just mentioned to my husband yesterday that the water coming out of our tap was smelling really strongly of chlorine. He says when we have a lot of chlorine in our water, they must be trying to clean up something in there, lol. Ugh.

Super gross. That baby ought to go back to the store. Something's not right.

We moved into our current home in March of this year. We have a GE Profile counter top range with a downdraft in the counter. I am nauseated at the smell that comes off this stove. I cleaned it with everything and even ran all the top parts in the dishwasher. Nothing. I recently cooked bacon on there and it is 10x worse.

@michelle gasky

Our smell has dissipated-
It’s basically gone now.

We do not use any cleaner that is specifically made for glass cook tops because it seems to resurrect the smell. For a quick clean we use Dawn dishwashing liquid and one of those scrub sponges with the smiley face from Bed Bath and Beyond. It cleans it, there is no smell, and we can stand being in the same room with it even after we cook bacon. Our housekeeper uses lavender Fabuloso to clean it with no issue. I swear I think the smell just had to wear itself out.

I am glad to know it was not just ours - sorry to hear others are dealing with it.

Best of luck! Happy Thanksgiving!

@michelle chasky



Typo on your name

We have the same issue with our GE Profile glass cooktop. It’s about 3-4 yrs old and the smell seems to be the worst right after I wipe it with just a wet cloth. Dawn sometimes helps a little, as does the cooktop cleaner. But it really sucks to have my kitchen smelling disgusting all the time.

I am so glad I found this thread! I’m not crazy! We moved to a newly built house about 5 months ago with brand new Samsung appliances. I was a 6 weeks pregnant. The smell of our Samsung indication stove top only made me so sick and took over our whole kitchen. I used only norwex cloths to clean it, but it has been driving me crazy since day 1. Just this month (5 months since we moved) my husband admits to smelling it - so, it’s getting stronger! I notice it’s especially bad with eggs. I wish we could return it!! I will be trying Dawn! Keep posting any updates or tricks people are finding!

I pour a generous amount of vinegar over the top of the stove and let it sit for as long as possible- helps somewhat- and over time the odor of the stove top does get better-

I can't believe I've found this thread. We've been in our house for 15 years, and just in the past 2 weeks I noticed a smell that gives me headaches. It is a gassy smell though, we have an total electric house. We realized it was the GE Profile cooktop. I thought it was the vent (downdraft), and have cleaned and cleaned with no luck. Never thought it could be the actual cooktop. I am going to pick up a bottle of the cleaner from Whole Foods, wish me luck.

I was cleaning teak table with a glass top that was given to me. I smelled old urine. I was using Windex and paper towels. I couldn't believe it was coming from the glass. I found the article below about tempered glass and the chemicals infused. Glass cook tops are also most likely tempered. I'm going to continue to search for more information. I have a very sensitive nose, but I thought this was crazy even for me!

https://homesteady.com/how-12102155-clean-tempered-glass-smelling-afterwards.html

I'm so glad I found this! I thought it was my counters and it was driving me crazy!! Haha thank you for the tips :)

We are not crazy!.....Well, at least when it comes to the glass cook top issue. I am so relieved to see that other people have had this problem. We are trying all of the suggestions above but if anyone has an update about a way to make it disappear completely - PLEASE let us know. It is a year old and the wet dog smell is really an accurate description.

We have the same problem! Not sure what to do have changed the cleaners numerous times, it stinks! Always has and we have had it for about 4 or 5 years now! Not sure what to do??

I‘ve never had this problem until one day I was wiping the top while it was still warm and boy didn’t it stink! Apparently I have always waited until the top was cool. I now wait for a cool top before cleaning and have not had the stink since.

This is a problem with my GE Cooktop too. I have a new build house and have noticed this especially after it has just been cleaned. I started using CCerama Bryte cooktop cleaner and it seems to work really good.

I FIGURED IT OUT! (At least at my house!)

So we just got a brand new build shiny smart home with a beautiful Frigidaire Stainless Steel gas counter stove top. I cooked on it 3 or 4 times...no issue. This morning I fried bacon and eggs...gosh darn-it there's a MAJOR ISSUE! THE WET DOG SMELL has entered our kitchen like Thanos on the Avengers! My wife was not happy, she had already told me she didn't really want us to cook fried anything in the new house yet so me doing exactly what she asked me not to do, and getting that smell just gave me the dumb man look. And then every time one of my children came into the kitchen they would say it stinks, like a wet dog, and making me look even more like an idiot! So I started to Google and found things like this forum. I tried all the above suggestions and nothing really worked. I looked under the stove top, under the burners, under everything. But then I thought, maybe I should look up. My hood vent has a metal washable filter, I smelled it, THAT WAS IT!! I TOOK OFF THE FILTER, CLEANED IT IN THE SINK WITH HOT WATER AND SOAP and the smell was almost completely gone. It wasn't the stove top at all. Maybe try to clean the filter or replace it if necessary and see if that helps. If so let me know! :)

I have just moved into a condo with an induction stove and I can't stand cooking on it. My food, and recipies I have made for years, smells awful and doesn.t taste right either. There is a definite odor this stove emites when you cook anything that is being simmered. I love to cook, but this has taken the joy out of it. I have dumped out a lot of food since i moved here.

anything ever come of this? I have the exact same problem, 5 years later!!

I have the sane issue. Baking soda and vinegar did nothing. Weiman Cooktop cleaner works.

I found this comment section while looking at reasons for the wet dog/fish smell on my glass dinning room table top. Every time I would clean it it smelled up the whole dining room! Dish soap and water has been the only thing that has worked with cleaning it and not making it stink.

it's been a long time since this was posted but I feel it could be helpful to give my 2 cents. is there any chance the smell is actually coming from your washrags used to clean these surfaces? about once every other month, I have to boil my kitchen washrags on the stove (~30 mins) to get out the smell you're talking about. I don't have pets. the smell is coming from bacteria being embedded in the cloth that the washing machine can't get out. you'll be amazed at the nasty water left in the pot when you boil your kitchen rags. and I never use those rags for more than 1 day before putting in the laundry basket! so since you say in the comments that it happens for multiple surfaces, it could be that diff surfaces brings out the smell either less or more. that's how it seems to be over here- it doesnt leave the dishes smelling bad because they get rinsed before they get dried. but when you wipe say a stove, the rag water is left behind with the rag bacteria, so the surface will stink afterward!

also, if you find your other various towels seem to produce a stink- like when drying off after a shower and your fresh towel stinks- it's the same bacteria problem as the kitchen rags. but instead of boiling them on the stove, take all your "clean" towels and start a hot load for them in the washing machine. wash towels with 1 cup vinegar- no soap. when it gets to beginning the rinse cycle, pour in half a cup baking soda. that's the hard part- making sure to be around when your washer switches to the rinse cycle! then dry as normal when done washing. like the kitchen rags, this also has to be done about every other month. you can put the kitchen rags in for that process as well, but I still have found it necessary to additionally boil the kitchen rags. I guess they are exposed to more copious amounts of bacteria, plus getting super wet and hanging throughout the day. could explain why the kitchen rags need the extra treatment.

hope this helps someone out there!

I have this problem with my glass cook top and a glass table I have also. The only thing that gets rid of it is Clorox clean up bleach spray. Then it gets a little hazy and I buff with paper towel. It doesn’t happen all the time it’s so weird and it’s gross wet dog if I use anything else

I only use paper towel I never clean with a sponge or reusable rag

Ditto... paper towel only .. it’s the only thing to use ... and I’ve also only used the stove top cleaner cream too. I used a clean tea towel to dry it off one time and it left the top stinky, same thing when using the dish cloth even though the dish water was fresh.

you all are barking up the wrong tree. The smell is caused by bacteria in the air that clings to the smooth surface. It's is worse if it has been raining. Moisture in the air makes it settle on the glass easier. Cleaners work for a while, but the smell always comes back. I'm now wondering if any company makes a surface without this issue. I think it is something in the nature of the smooth glass itself that attracts the micro bacteria. Anyway, yuck...

I swore to hubs I would NOT find this question on the internet, and of course he thinks I'm crazy anyway for screaming about the "dirty-sponge" stink in the kitchen after we wipe the stovetop with a fabulously, hygienically sanitized, clean microfiber cloth. The cloth, after wiping the stove, would then spread this horrid stench to all other surfaces touched by the cloth so it was hard, at first, to trace the true origin of the problem. Plus, hubs says he cannot smell this ghastly odor (??). But here is this exact complaint, and I'm not alone and apparently not crazy.

And I do have some idea as to what is going on, and have succeeded in eliminating the odor!

When we purchased this glass-ceramic induction stovetop I learned, somewhere (owner's manual?), that the included ceramic cleaner (Ceramabryte) was to be applied *before* the first use of the stove "to fill in the pores" and on a regular basis for the same reason. Pores? I can't find verification of this (in fact glass-ceramic is supposed to be "poreless") but I took a strong lens and looked at the surface against the light; the glass ceramic surface looks like orange peel. Tiny, wrinkly or puckery indentations could easily hold moisture long enough for fungal or bacterial growth to occur.

I stopped using the Ceramabryte a few months before this "stink" developed, believing my damp micro-fiber wonder-cloth to be quite sufficient for cleaning, thank you; and my theory is that those pores were left exposed and more available for petri-dish-like behavior, i.e., culturing smelly micro-organisms that get reactivated by the swipe of a moist cleaning rag. And of course the wet cloth does not dig down into the pores; it only wets them and wakes up the stinkers.

So: What kills bacteria or fungus? Acetic acid, i.e., vinegar, will definitely hit yeast and fungal growth as well as many types of bacteria. That's a simple first line of defense, and of course chlorine bleach should make a difference too (although don't ever mix the two or you'll create a poisonous gas).

I took it one step further. In this day & age of pandemic life, many of us have some hard-core disinfectants at home and I happen to have a jug of Lemocide which contains benzalkonium chloride. Hospital-grade stuff that kills absolutely everything (we used it to eradicate black mold in our basement; no regrowth has ever occurred). I mixed a solution in a spray bottle and followed directions to let it sit for 10 minutes on the surface.

Bingo.

I've tested the result repeatedly and the smell is gone. I believe this proves that residual fungal or bacterial growth common to damp kitchen surfaces is the source of this foul odor.

Preventively, therefore, it is VERY IMPORTANT not to leave the stovetop damp: After cleaning, DRY IT! (I suggested to my husband that we use a blow dryer!)

Basically, what is probably going on is that the same smelly bacteria and/or molds/fungus/yeasts that stink up our dish sponges and related items, are left to grow in the tiny indentations in the surface of the stove. When we wet them, they release their characteristic wet-sponge/wet-dog odor. The solution is to kill those microorganisms, and not to favor their living conditions (i.e., moisture), AND to fill in the pores with the Ceramabryte or similar product on a regular basis. (It also contains abrasives that help remove surface crusts and stains.)

I'm doing all of these: Regular spray-downs with Lemocide; drying religiously after cleaning the surface; and using the ceramic cleaner on a regular basis.

So far, so good.

Good luck.

Note: I purchased the Lemocide online.

I'm dealing with this same problem now but it's a gas GE stove model # JGSP28SEN2SS

Unfortunately not much of what was said here seems to be the culprit... :-(

A laundry glitch has solved this problem, we think: STOP USING MICROFIBER CLOTHS to clean glass ceramic. A disobedient husband "accidentally" used clean cotton dishcloths to wipe the stove and... NO SMELL. When the sanitized microfiber cloths ("E-cloth" brand) returned from the laundry, and we went back to using them on the stovetop, OH, THE STENCH. Trial and error since then has consistently pointed to a cause/effect. I am so bummed we can't polish that lovely black stovetop with our super-micro-microfiber any more but it 's not worth that awful odor. We're now using old-fashioned, all natural cotton towels and rags for cleaning with regular soap & water and the smell simply has not returned... I have not had to "Lemocide" the stovetop either (although it did work!). This is our solution for now and it would be interesting to find out if others find a connection and whether this will continue to be the solution....but my life sure is easier. Good luck.

I’ve been using wet paper towels with dish detergent!!! The odor has not been there!

Hello, smelly cooktop friends!
I posted my original comment seven years ago. I thought the funk wore itself out...not so much. No predicting what makes it smell. The top is cracked now and we are getting a new one. Good luck to all. We tried everything!

I use a Lysol bathroom cleaner product. It is in a blue spray bottle—Power Bathroom Cleaner. I used a lot and let it sit for 10 min. Dry it , rinse with water and dry again. I use a clean cotton cloth for drying. I only clean the burner(s) that have been used.Good Luck

Hi so yes I have this same ridiculous disgusting odor on my cooktop as well. I definitely agree that it is bacteria or other similar things causing it BUT I also think, at least in my case, my Teflon treated or textured bottom pots and pans are also contributing to it. Yes it smells like wet dog but it also has sort of metal smell incorporated as well. So because these cook tops are porous, anything could be setting in those pores and making it stank. Had anyone tried a really good Magic Eraser with Dawn scrub down? Wonder if there is something that can be applied to fill and seal those pores¿ Gonna try some of the suggestions in this thread that I haven't tried yet and see if any relief 🤞

Just want to say, we no longer have this horrible problem since we stopped using microfiber cloths to clean the stovetop.

ONLY if the microfiber has come directly from a sanitizing wash (i.e., in the washing machine) does it not leave a stink. The second time we use it, OMG. So, no more microfiber. Just forget it!

The worst offender is the so-called "E-Cloth" which otherwise is wonderful for cleaning. In fact, it even left a stink on our stainless-steel refrigerator! It's that bad! Some kind of interaction between metal and the specific bacteria that grow in e-cloths, maybe?

A houseguest cleaned our kitchen unbeknownst to us and when we came down to the kitchen in the morning, we knew IMMEDIATELY (!!!) that "someone used an e-cloth to clean!" The houseguest pleaded guilty but our noses knew!! It's that bad and that specific.

We now use old cotton rags for polishing the stove. Less convenient but seriously, no more stink.

If I wipe my ceramic top with a wet paper towel it just stinks. If I use any sort of regular kitchen cleaner it stinks! I have to use bleach every time I use the darn thing or it stinks up my kitchen. I go for soft scrub because that gets the burnt stuff off too. I had no idea why my kitchen smelled so bad after scrubbing it top to bottom with Mr. Clean. I would have never guessed ceramic tops can just smell so weird!

I have noticed this ”wet dog” like odor on both ceramic cooktops that I have had. This gross odor always occurs when we open the windows and let fresh air in the house. Has anyone else had this problem?

It has to be the glass type stovetop. I have smelled this same smell when clean glassware and glass bowls come out of the clean dishwasher. It’s something about the water and the glass. I don’t smell it when I hand wash my glass bowls with dawn and dry them immediately. I have smelled this smell for years. And even using my lovely Norwex ecloth my stovetop is rank.

I originally posted this following reply 6 years ago, so my Whirlpool ceramic cooktop range is now 19 years old and going strong, with no swampy smell:

OK... I am joining the party a little late, but I think maybe I can be of some help.

I have a 13 year old Whirlpool with ceramic cooktop, and have experienced this problem a few times. The most important thing is to only use cleaning products on it when the cooktop is COMPLETELY COOL.

Here is my cleaning regimen:

1. I clean the cooktop after - and only after - the cooktop is COMPLETELY COOL. This is a crucial point. It's OK to wipe it off with plain water while still warm, but don't use any cleaning products on it while it is warm.

2. For cooked-on foods, I use Weiman glass cooktop cleaner that I got at Walmart ( any brand will probably work ) and the scrubby side of a BLUE 3M sponge. Don't use the green and yellow ones, as they will scratch anything. The blue ones don't scratch. Then I wipe off the residue with the sponge using only plain water before proceeding to the next step.

3. After the cooktop is COOL and completely dry, I spray it with plain Windex, then clean the entire thing with a clean paper towel. If you have grease spatter, you will probably have to repeat this step.

The most important thing is to make sure the cooktop is COMPLETELY COOL when you clean it, and also to let it dry completely ( so there is no lingering odor of Windex ) before heating it up. If it still smells like a swamp after cleaning, wait for it to dry completely, and give it the Windex treatment again.

This has worked well for me for the last 13 years. On the rare occasion when I clean it before it is completely cool, or it gets turned on too soon after cleaning, it will indeed smell like a swamp.

Happy cooking !

Microfiber was the culprit in my situation as well, cleaned with a paper towel as a test, no smell. Thanks for the solution. I've been using Norwex for years and never had this problem until I just got a new one. I'm going to use a microfiber deep cleaner and see if that helps. Thanks all!

Microfiber was the culprit in my situation as well, cleaned with a paper towel as a test, no smell. Thanks for the solution. I've been using Norwex for years and never had this problem until I just got a new one. I'm going to use a microfiber deep cleaner and see if that helps. Thanks all!

My new Wnirlpool flat top electic stove smells so bad . Yes like wet dog , and its embarrassing when company comes over. Im happy that it’s not just in my mind . Ive tried it all and nothing works. There has to be a clear cut answer somewhere . So happy I found this site and now know that Im not alone in this.