![]() Instead, feed it slowly, maintaining a continuous flow of water while adding scraps. When preparing a meal or cleaning up after, don’t collect a sink full of waste and push it down the drain en masse. ![]() If foul odors persist despite regular cleaning, consult a plumber to evaluate possible pipe or sewer issues. A good scrub with dish detergent is adequate. In addition, you can clean the stopper or strainer guard as we’ll discuss below, to rid it of odor-causing food residue. Use one tablet every month to keep the grinding chamber, working parts, and waste line pipe debris-free. Garbage Disposal Cleaner is available from Affresh via Amazon in three- or nine-tablet packages. Add half a cup of white vinegar and let the mixture fizz for about 15 minutes before rinsing with cold water.Īn alternative is to purchase a cleaning product intended for use in these appliances.Īffresh Garbage Disposal Cleaner, available on Amazon Pour about half a cup of baking soda down the drain. You might also use baking soda and vinegar, a tried-and-true natural cleaning combination. It’s a very noisy process best done with a strainer stopper to prevent rogue ice chips from shooting out. To dislodge clinging food, run cold water while putting in five or six ice cubes, one or two at a time. The rest of the smelly food fragments tend to tangle around the impellers, blunt protrusions that force food pieces against a grinding ring to reduce them to bits. With this buildup no longer in place, you’ve won about half of the odor battle. But this is where much of the odor-causing bacteria congregate. You have to de-gunk the underside of the rubber splash guard by pulling the food residue off with your gloved hands. Now, here’s the part most articles don’t tell you: To effectively clean a disposal, you must shut it off, unplug it, and put on disposable gloves. But I don’t recommend them because the peels can stick, and the freshness is temporary. You may have read about using lemons for their fresh scent and antimicrobial properties. Clean RegularlyĪt least twice a month, you should clean your unit. If you are one of the many who have a disposal, either by choice or requirement, the following 13 tips will help you to use and care for it. When I moved to a house that had a garbage disposal for the first time, I had a lot to learn before finally making peace with the “grinding monster” that now lives in my kitchen. Opponents of these kitchen gadgets say that waste disposers overburden wastewater treatment plants and add to the carbon footprint when additional biosolids require transport to landfills, anaerobic digesters, or incinerators.Ĭase in point, did you know that garbage disposals were once banned in New York City?įrom the ‘70s to the ‘90s, they were considered a risk to the city’s aging pipes. In other locales, soft food waste disposers are uncommon, especially where septic systems may fail to handle the added volume of shredded food in wastewater. Proponents of the grinders say that the biosolids – the organic matter that remains after wastewater treatment – make excellent alternative fertilizers in the garden, and emissions from trash trucks may be reduced without the extra weight of food waste that needs to be transported. They also lessen the odor in trash receptacle areas and make them less attractive to animals and insect pests. They aid in reducing waste management costs by decreasing the quantity of trash that’s tossed in dumpsters. Some multi-dwelling residences require the devices. Garbage disposals may have been a luxury when the first “InSinkErator” hit the commercial market in the 1940s, but today they are a standard kitchen amenity in many American homes. Some of these may be affiliate based, meaning we earn small commissions (at no additional cost to you) if items are purchased. We occasionally link to goods offered by vendors to help the reader find relevant products.
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