A garbage disposal is a wonderful addition to your home or kitchen! It helps to reduce the amount of organic waste you generate, and it’s a great way to keep your kitchen clean. If you’re lucky enough to have a garbage disposal unit, it’s important that you keep it clean and working well. What does this mean?
Being Careful With What You Grind — The beauty of a garbage disposal unit is that it takes care of most of your food scraps, thus reducing your garbage output. However, there are a lot of foods you CAN’T or SHOULDN’T grind. This list includes:
• Large beef and pork bones, or even larger chicken bones
• Banana peels, potato peels, and anything that can turn starchy, become a paste, and gum up the blades
• Grease and fat, both of which coat the pipes and blades, emanating a foul odor and clogging up the pipes
• Rice, pasta, and any foods that absorb water, expand, and clog your pipes and drains
• Eggshells and coffee ground, both of which can accumulate in your pipes
• Carrots, celery, beets, and any very fibrous veggies that can get tangled around the disposal blades
Make sure to only throw soft foods down the disposal unit, and avoid throwing large scraps of food. Chop any food scraps into smaller pieces that are easier to blend. Do this, and you’ll keep your disposal unit in good working order for years to come.
Using the Disposal Regularly — Did you know that an inactive disposal unit is prone to rust, odors, clogs, and even mechanical failure? The machines are designed to be used, so you need to make sure to run the disposal at least two or three times per day. It will prevent the machine from rusting and wearing out from disuse.
Cleaning the Disposal — How can you clean your garbage disposal unit? You’d be amazed how far a few simple food items can go!
• Citrus peels, when chopped up in the blades, can actually help to eliminate nasty smells and coat the disposal unit with pleasant-smelling citrus oils. Throw a few peels down the drain to deal with bad odors.
• Ice and rock salt, when mixed, can act like a scouring pad to clean the inside of the unit. The blades will chop the salt and ice to small chunks, which bounce around and clean out any food residue.
• Fish and chicken bones are also chopped into small shards, which bounce around to scour the garbage disposal unit.
Calling in a Plumber — If your garbage disposal unit is having trouble, don’t try to fix it yourself. It’s a delicate machine with too many moving parts to easily repair. Instead, call in Ford’s Plumbing to do the repairs for you. We’ll leave your garbage disposal unit in proper working condition, and it will stay working well as long as you take care of it.
