Hot Fumes Rise

Hello, I have a roommate that cooks very heavily using oil-based seasoning such as Oregano Oil. After each time he is done cooking the UPSTAIRS hallway floor becomes sticky. It has taken years to identify the 2 matching scenarios as the sticky floor was driving us nuts not knowing where it came from. Is it possible that when he cooks that the evaporation of water and oil out of the pot could make its way to the highest part of the house (upstairs hallway)and when the water evaporates the oil leaves a sticky residue? Is there a science that could possibly prove this? The mystery sticky floor is making us crazy.
- Brian Matthews (age 41)
Paterson

Yes, your guess is certainly possible. The cooking fumes will go up because they are hot.

It's interesting to think how to test this. You could scrape some of the stickiness from the floor into a cup, heat it up, and see if it smells like oregano. In good weather you could use an exhaust fan and put some cardboard or something in the exhaust to see if it accumulates a similar sticky layer.  There must be many other ways to test as well.

Mike W.

(published on 04/19/2020)