November 14, 2024
With the cool air of fall settling, many homeowners are ready to prepare their homes for a change in seasons. Most of them will be raking up their leaves and cleaning out gutters, while it is an excellent time of the year to make sure your garbage disposal functions smoothly. Hearty meals, pumpkin-spiced everything, and gatherings at this time strain your kitchen sink and garbage disposal more than usual. Stay on top of a few quick, simple maintenance steps to keep your disposal running smoothly. Here are three quick tips to get you started this fall and have a sound, smooth garbage disposal that is performing well as the busy season is upon you.
Keep It Clean with Routine Maintenance
Clean it: One of the simplest and most effective ways to keep your garbage disposal working well is to clean it. Over time, food particles, grease, and oils accumulate in the disposal, causing smells, clogs, or even a slow motor. Routine cleaning prevents these problems and keeps your disposal fresh and efficient.
How to Clean Your Garbage Disposal:
- Turn off the power: Before you start cleaning, you must ensure that the garbage disposal is turned off. To avoid accidents, remove it from the outlet by unplugging it or cutting the power supply at the circuit breaker.
Use ice and salt:
- Place one cup of ice in the disposal.
- Sprinkle a handful of coarse salt (rock or kosher salt is best).
- Let the disposal grind it up.
This will loosen any debris that may be wedged, clean the blades, and freshen up the disposal.
- Brighten with citrus: Add in a few citrus peels, lemon, lime, or orange after you grind the ice and salt. Citrus peels do more than clean your disposal-removing all kinds of residue, and buildup-they also leave behind a pretty, fresh scent.
- Vinegar and baking soda: For intense cleaning, add half a cup of baking soda to the disposal and pour white vinegar into a cup of water. Allow it to sit for about 10-15 minutes, then flush it down using hot water. This natural cleaning method will break down the grease and neutralize the odor.
It’s easy to forget which foods should never go down your disposal as you plan fall feasts, such as warm stews, roasted vegetables, and mashed potatoes. Your disposal is built to grind organic waste; however, some fall foods could clog the lines, harm the motor, or even emit odours if improperly channelled.
The Do-NoTs for Fall Foods in Your Garbage Disposal
Grease and fats: When you are frying bacon, turkey, or roasting vegetables, you use too much grease or oil. You must never send this grease down your disposal. Grease solids inside pipes cause clogs. Remove the grease in a container and get rid of it in the garbage.
- Scrubby vegetables: Squash, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes, all fall vegetables, can be delicious, but they are awful on a garbage disposal. The fibres in these foods wrap around the blades and cause them to jam or break. Chop up these items really, really fine and trash or compost them.
- Coffee grounds: Not precisely a fall-only food, coffee grounds are among the most common year-round culprits of clogging garbage disposals. Poured occasionally, coffee grounds build up in the disposal and dry out stiffly, leading to blockages. Your better choice may be to compost your coffee grounds or throw them in the trash.
- Bones and pits: Never force any hard objects into your disposal, including bones, seeds, or pits. These include apple, peach, or pumpkin pits. The harder objects can potentially destroy the blades in your disposal or completely fill them up, jamming them and thus making waste a bit unbearable to break.
Tip: Whenever you run your disposal, always use cold water to facilitate the breakdown of food debris. Hot water causes the fats in it to melt, which is only good for clogging up your drain pipes.
2. Don’t Let Tiny Issues Escalate Into Big Ones
The fall season is a busy season for kitchens. This season, more cooking, baking, and entertaining are done. If your garbage disposal has been acting poorly, it may make unusual noises, not drain properly, or emit terrible odors. It’s essential to address these issues immediately before they become major headaches.
How to Troubleshoot Common Garbage Disposal Problems
- Jams and clogs: It’s humming but not grinding. It could be jammed. Switch off the disposal and try rotating the blades using a wrench or an Allen wrench that comes with it. You can also employ tongs or pliers to remove any visible debris that may be sticking into the grinding chamber.
- Slow draining: When your sink is slowly draining, it could mean your disposal or the pipe behind it is clogged. First, try running a mixture of vinegar and baking soda down it. If that doesn’t work, you can run a plumbing snake down the pipes and clean them. Consider getting a plumber to inspect the pipes for the more stubborn blockages.
- Odors: If the food the disposal has ground up is starting to rot inside the pipe, it can smell bad. Clean the disposal with the methods above to eliminate odours, or run a few small pieces of ice through it with some citrus peels to freshen things up.
- Leaks: If you notice water leaking beneath your sink, it might be because of a leak around the disposal. So, tighten any loose screws or connections. If that problem persists, then probably it’s time to change the seals or take a pro’s help.
Your garbage disposal running well this fall is about more than just cleaning it occasionally. By maintaining regular cleaning, avoiding fall’s common food waste, and solving small problems before they become more significant ones, your disposal will be working efficiently throughout the fall. Proper care for your garbage disposal can spare you expensive repairs and ensure your kitchen stays in fine fettle for the hearty meals and festive gatherings that come with the season.
Remember that Magnificent Plumbing, a well-maintained garbage disposal can transform your kitchen, so pay it a little extra attention as you gear up for the fall season!
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