Your garbage disposal is probably one of your home’s most abused and used appliances. Grinding up inappropriate items, along with a lack of attention, can result in unnecessary blockages, jams, clogs, and expensive plumbing bills. Most garbage disposal issues can be prevented in many cases. With routine maintenance and proper care, virtually any homeowner can easily maintain garbage disposal, save money on costly repairs, and extend their life.
Consider the following helpful tips on how to prolong the life of your garbage disposal and avoid irritating jams and clogs.
1. Regularly run your garbage disposal.
It’s best to run your disposal periodically. Even if there’s nothing to grind up, just turn on the water and let it run every couple of days to work all the moving parts. Otherwise, it can rust, corrode, or freeze up. Also, any food left over inside can eventually harden, resulting in an unexpected clog or foul odors.
2. Run cold water when using your disposal.
When using your disposal, run cold water rather than hot water. While hot water is better for cleaning, it’s not ideal for your kitchen’s garbage disposal. Extremely hot water can actually melt down the food inside the disposal that you’re trying to grind, allowing it to stick to the sides of the disposal. On the other hand, cold water will harden food, making it much easier for your disposal to grind it up thoroughly.
3. Let the disposal run longer.
Once your disposal has completely finished grinding the leftovers, let it continue to run along with the water for about another minute or two. This will ensure that all the food waste is completely flushed down the drain to prevent any clogs or jams. Once the food waste is ground, you can run some dish soap and cold water down the drain. This helps keep the disposal clean inside and will ensure that nothing is left behind or sticking to the sides of your garbage disposal.
4. Always chop food waste into smaller pieces.
The typical garbage disposal can only handle so much waste, and its motor and blades have only so much power. Therefore, if you feed it too much or too fast, it’s likely going to jam. A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you can reasonably chew up with your own mouth what you intend to put down your disposal, then it can probably handle it. For example, you would never throw in the exterior of a pineapple since you can’t eat that yourself.
5. Frequently toss in some citrus fruit.
Dish soap and water will significantly help keep your disposal clean and fresh. However, sometimes, throwing in a peel from a lemon, lime, or even orange is a good idea to freshen up the inside. A citrus peel will help eliminate the excess food waste in your garbage disposal and diminish any foul odors.
Things You Shouldn’t Put Down a Garbage Disposal
- Large Bones, Pits, or Seeds can easily jam your disposal, dull the blades, or get lodged in the drain.
- Potato Peels. Potato peels have starch that can stick to the sides of your disposal, making it harder to flush down the drain.
- Oil or Grease. Oil or grease can become hard inside disposal and cause unnecessary clogs within the drain.
- Paper, Plastic, Metal, or Glass. These items can dull the blades or jam your garbage disposal.
- Foods that Expand. Some foods expand, such as rice or pasta, and their starch can stick to the inside of the disposal. Furthermore, water can make them grow even more and cause clogs in their disposal.
Follow these simple tips to keep your disposal fully functional and clean. Use Alvarez Plumbing in Salinas as your leading resource for garbage disposal and plumbing repairs to address any problems you can’t handle.
Alvarez Plumbing | Salinas, CA (831-757-5465)
If you need any type of plumbing repair, contact Alvarez Plumbing in Salinas, California. This company has the experience and knowledge needed to handle serious plumbing problems.