Garbage disposals offer a convenient way to dispose of some kitchen waste. If you treat your disposal poorly, you could be in for some plumbing headaches, however. Follow these tips to keep your disposal running smoothly and your kitchen drains healthy:
Approved Items for a Garbage Disposal
Ice cubes – When ground in the disposal, these scour away sticky substances from the disposal walls.
Meat and vegetable scraps – Just keep in mind, you should allow only a little into the disposal at a time. Too much all at once can cause clogs
Fruits – Small pieces of fruit and small pits or peels are usually fine. Exceptions include banana peels and large fruit pits which can jam the disposal or clog pipes. A little leftover lemon rind or orange peel, however, won’t hurt the disposal and can remove odors
Items to Keep Out of the Disposal
Non-biodegradable products – This includes plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and similar items. These might be chopped up but they will never disintegrate and can cause pipe clogs later.
Stringy, fibrous vegetable and fruit matter – These can wrap around moving mechanical parts and hurt the motor. In addition, these products don’t break down quickly and can contribute to drains clogging. This list includes celery stalks, vegetable husks and potato peels.
Thick rinds – Watermelon and cantaloupe rinds, for example, have no place in your garbage disposal.
Large bones, such as steak bones, pork chop bones and ham bones.
Grease – Animal fats become liquid at high heat but quickly congeal when cooled. This spells bad news for your garbage disposal and your plumbing if you pour grease down the drain. It probably won’t cause a clog right away, but you can be assured it can lead to problems later.
Caustic products – This includes chemical drain cleaners. These can harm the disposal and plumbing pipes.
Uncooked rice, potato flakes or pasta – These expand on contact with water and clog drains.
For more tips about caring for your garbage disposal and your home’s plumbing, please contact us at Air Assurance.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about garbage disposals and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Name”