Ruining the cabinets with Orange Glo is not going to ever be helpful to an odor created by rancid grease. If that is what it is. You may be able to poultice it out with cornstarch and acetone. But all anything flame related has to be extinguished first. Also, have you had the exhaust vent ductwork cleaned?

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

I've not done anything to the duct work itself. I could certainly look into that.

How would the acetone / cornstarch work?

Does the friendly married couple also use lots of spices in their cooking and store them in one of your kitchen cabinets? I have that problem with my spouse who "collects" lots of different BBQ rubs. I placed most of them in airtight container or double bagged them with ziploc, but that spice smell permeates everything. He does not smell it at all!

I think Chispa has hit on the problem. What is stored in the cabinets?

If you think it's the granite then replace it when you can. Good Luck!

Not sure how to 'reply' directly to a response, but chispa - yes, lots of spices. Sometimes the spices smell (to me), and they fill the house up and it lingers. My pantry just smells like...a pantry, I guess. Nothing foul or offensive in there at all.

But again, (and I just did this prior to typing this to confirm) - if I smell the granite, it stinks. The inside of my cabinets do not smell at all. It's just the granite.

It just might be accumulation of dirt/grease on the counters.

I believe Acetone is the product you want to use to strip the granite of any surface contaminants and the old sealer. Test in a corner first to make sure it doesn't cause any unexpected problems. Acetone (pure, not nail polish remover variety) is flammable, so take appropriate precautions.

I dont know how its possible for clean granite to smell

Never heard of this what does Google have to say ? Lol

I am a fabricator. You might try cleaning the countertops with acetone. It is a potent organic solvent that will remove previously applied sealer. You need good ventilation and gloves, We use it when we are asked to reseal existing countertops and the previously applied sealer (if any) is unknown. Of course it's always prudent to test the solvent on a small area but in 20 some years we've never encountered a stone that could be damaged by acetone. Note also multiple applications of sealer is unnecessary. sealer works by plugging the small pores in the stone so multiple applications just make more work without improving the seal of the pores in the stone. For more porous stone like marble the sealer is formulated to "plug" larger pores.

Thanks, GCS, this is the info I was looking for. Anything in particular I should consider outside of the warnings on the acetone label? do you just wipe it on and allow it to dry? Let it sit for a few minutes? Etc?

Are your renters still there? If so, and if they don't change their cooking habits (e.g. not using any ventilation), then I'd be concerned about doing all the work with the acetone only to have the odor return.

Chica, yep I agree, but they are no longer here, which is the main reason Im tackling it now.

Windows open, well ventilated, appliances off. I would even put out the pilot light if any gas appliances. It is that volatile.

No, do not let the acetone dry, that defeats the purpose. You want to solubilize the offending odor molecules and then sop them up and remove them. I'd flood the counter, let it sit a bit, then pick it up with paper towels and then take the towels outside ASAP and spread them out so the acetone evaporates. Then rinse again, and probably a third time. Acetone dissolves a very wide range of organic molecules so should get rid of much of what you're smelling. After the paper towels have dried smell them and see if the odor has been transferred to the towels, that would tell you that it's working. If there's no odor to the towels then I'd look elsewhere for a source.

Acetone if very voaltile and very flammable, so be very sure you have no ignition sources around Work a smaller area at a time (2 ft of counter, maybe). Toxicity is relatively low, your body produces quite a bit of acetone as a part of normal metabolism; you quickly breathe it out because it is so voaltile. An organics respirator is still a good idea, and high concentrations can't be good-- turn on the exhaust fan and open a window. Fire will be the primary hazard you need to worry about.

@chispa - I thought I was the only one who had a SO who is a HOARDER re: BBQ/spice rubs! I would guess that he has 20 or so - and my pantry started to have a different smell to it (I have a very sensitive nose for smells - I smell odors that no one notices - at least not until pointed out). It was the rubs, etc. I double bagged them also.

FYI - he is also a hoarder of deodorants + toothpaste (no idea why because these are all the same). If there is ever an apocalypse, we have the BBQ rubs/deodorant/toothpaste areas covered 😂

POULTICE it with the acetone and baby powder or cornstarch.

@dani_m08, notice I was careful not to use the H word! ;-)

I should probably plan to go through the cabinet the next time he is gone for a few hours, as I'm sure there are a bunch of expired rubs/spices he won't miss! I'm glad it is just in one upper double cabinet and not in the walk-in pantry, so at least the smell is somewhat contained with the cabinet doors closed.

@chispa and @dani_m08 My husband also has many BBQ/spice rubs. He also has tons of bottled sauces as well as a lot of deodorant. He always buys the multipacks of deodorant at Costco. Always the same brand. The BBQ rubs/spices are in an upper double cabinet. The smell isn't bad. The bottled sauces are in the pantry. I will give him credit because he does keep it pretty organized.

@rwiegand this is all great info, thank you.

I've had a hell of a time so far today, because the acetone dries so fast. I did try to mix it with some cornstarch and ended up making one hell of a mess. I've got my exhaust fan on, ceiling fans are on, and all windows are open. The acetone smell is nominal inside as a result.

Roughly how long would you estimate the acetone takes to solubilize the offending particles? Should it stay legitimately wet for a few minutes? 30 seconds? I'm not sure of the most efficient way to go about it, and so far I've cleaned it with the acetone a few times, but again, it dries so fast, and doesnt appear to have worked yet.

I'm going to try as you describe and allow some paper towels to dry out to see if the odor is transferring to them.

** Edit to add the the smell is definitely transferring to some of the paper towels, but the granite still has the odor. I know some have suggested to poultice it out, but does anyone know a good ratio to mix the acetone with a thickener? I have cornstarch...and like I said, I made one hell of a mess and no progress going that direction.

Bumping this to see if there are any more suggestions.

Acetone did not work. I essentially poured multiple cups of it over the entire granite and allowed it to sit for about 5 minutes, pouring more out onto the counter if it evaporated. It was basically a lake. Once it was dry, I repeated this two more times, and the smell persists.

I really can't fathom how the odor is still there, but here we are. FWIW, my kitchen island is also granite, and it has zero smell, despite being ~ 3 feet away from the offending granite slabs. It smells neither good nor bad, just neutral. My range sits between the two slabs that I've tried to deodorize, and if I put my nose down to the range, it does not have the same offending smell. It's just the granite.

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I don't think your renters did anything to make your granite smelly. I've been coming to this kitchen forum for over 30 years. I have seen this problem come up in the past. I can't remember what the solution was or the answer to "WHY does this happen?" I don't think there was one. I think everyone came to the conclusion that some slabs emit an odor and there is no solution. The same with the gritty surface issue. Some slabs will pop out tiny gritty particles for years....and then finally stop. I think you should do as somone else suggested.....GOOGLE it.

@The Kitchen Place, Wick,

Thank you for the reply.

I can't say for sure whether the renters caused it or not, but I do know the smell was not present for the 4 years I lived here and they did not. The smell is also similar to the food they cooked. It also happens that the slabs of granite that contain the odor border the range where food was cooked. If it looks like a duck...

GOOGLE results informed me to try multiple remedies, most of which revolved around cleaning items that weren't part of the problem (trash can, garbage disposal, etc). I did that anyway, as described in the OP. The results I found that focused on the actual problem suggested a stone-specific cleaner (tried it), leaving baking soda on the granite overnight (tried it), poultice with corn starch and rubbing alcohol (tried it), a mixture of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water (tried it).

After that, GOOGLE led me to this website.

@The Kitchen Place, Wick got it, I'll see if I can locate that. Appreciate the heads up!