How to Properly Maintain Your Garbage Disposal

Your garbage disposal is an essential tool in your kitchen. It allows you to throw random food scraps down so that you don’t stink up your kitchen by throwing it in the trash and makes cleaning up easy. So it’s important you take good care of your disposal so that it lasts a long time and can continuing doing its job. Below is a list of steps for you to take to ensure that your garbage disposal continues to work properly for years to come.

1. Run the water

Whenever you run your garbage disposal, make sure your water is running. Once here the grinding turn to a soft whir of the motor, then turn the disposal off and keep the water running for an additional 15 seconds. This will ensure that any leftover particles flush through the pipes.

2. Avoid fibrous foods

Fibrous foods, like banana peels, leave stringy fibers in the garbage disposal which will eventually get stuck and wrapped up in the disposal causing many problems for you down the line.

3. Do not put glass in your disposal

Putting glass in your garbage disposal is a popular myth, however, contrary to this belief it will not sharpen the blades in your garbage disposal, and it won’t clean your drains pipes. The only thing it will do is harm your kitchen plumbing.

6. Avoid eggshells and coffee grounds

Eggshells should be left out of your garbage disposal as they turn into a sand-like substance and sink into the curves of your piping, eventually causing drain clogs. Coffee grounds cause similar problems except they are already a sandlike substance so it won’t take as long to create problems.

7. Don't add bleach

Bleach is an incredibly toxic and caustic chemical which will do more damage to your plumbing than it will clean it. It also has the effect of hardening grease in your drains which will eventually block your pipes as the grease collects.

If you ever have any kind of drain problems, whether its a blockage or a leak, call Coast Plumbing, Heating and Air. We have been serving Orange County residents for over three decades and in that time have become the #1 service company. No matter how complex or how simple your plumbing issues are, you can depend on us for high quality, effective services that will never compromise on customer satisfaction.