A garbage disposal is a small device placed under your kitchen sink that helps to quickly grind up food waste. It’s designed to help prevent this waste from clogging your pipes when it goes down the sink. Because of this, it’s important that you maintain it. Below are a few tips you can use to ensure it stays in top shape.
Tips for Keeping Your Garbage Disposal in Good Condition
- Turn on Cold Water When Running It: Hot water might not seem like it would cause harm to your garbage disposal, but it can. If you put items that are greasy down it, hot water will only encourage them to expand which can cause clogs. This is why it’s good to only use cold water when running the disposal. Cold water won’t cause contents to swell and can even help the disposal work faster.
- Clean the Disposal Out: Another way to keep your garbage disposal in good condition is to keep it clean. You can easily cleanse it by pouring around ½ cup baking soda and ½ cup vinegar down it. After this has been done, cover the top of the disposal and wait around five minutes. Once this time has passed, run cool water down its drain. This will help to not only remove odors, but destroy any bacteria that might be in it.
- Use Citrus Fruits to Mask Odors: Sometimes your garbage disposal might reek of strong odors. While there are drain cleaners and deodorizers you can buy, sometimes these can be expensive and don’t always have the best smell. To help with this, you can put a few citrus peels, like lemon and orange, into your garbage disposal and grind them up. They’ll leave behind a fresh smell and deodorize the disposal.
- Test it With Ice Cubes: It’s important to periodically monitor how well your garbage disposal works. You can test how the blades are moving and whether items are obstructing it by doing a quick ice cube test. After putting a few ice cubes down it, turn the disposal on. You’ll be able to hear if there are any issues and if the ice is being properly crushed. In addition to this, ice cubes can help with keeping its blades sharp while also removing any debris that might be stuck on the disposal’s walls.
It’s important to keep your garbage disposal in good condition so it stays durable. If you’d like to have your garbage disposal inspected, call Redwood Sewer & Drain in Santa Rosa. Our professionals will give it a thorough checkup and give you some helpful maintenance tips.