7 Things You Should Never Throw Down Your Garbage Disposal

The convenience of making waste disappear through garbage disposal can be tempting. However, no matter how reliable and heavy-duty they seem, garbage disposals can also get worn down and ultimately break if not used properly. Garbage disposals can handle most fruit peels, soft or chopped food, even small ice cubes. But throw in the wrong thing, and it can leave your garbage disposal clogged, smelly, and in due need of plumbing and repair. 

Keep your garbage disposal in the best condition by avoiding feeding it with these seven things. 

• Grease – Oils, butter, fat, meat trimmings, and grease from processed foods like bacon are dangerous for your garbage disposal. Grease and fat can dull the blades of garbage disposals over time. These substances also solidify when cooled, coating and clogging the drains and pipes. If you throw any of these down the garbage disposal by accident, let the hot water run through to melt and fully aid the flow. 

• Bones – The blades of the garbage disposal were not designed for grinding bones from meat. If these disposed off bones somehow get past the garbage disposal, it will surely be a source of future clogging for your drain. 

• Stringy Foods -Fibrous and stringy foody can get wrapped around and tangled around the garbage disposal’s blades. When tangles like those happen, the motor will run harder to untangle itself to no avail, will get overheated, and busted. Such stringy foods include celery, artichokes, string cheese, asparagus, lettuce, corn husks, raw meat, pumpkin, and banana peels. 

• Seeds and Pits – Throwing hard seeds and pits of fruits like avocados, cherries, and peaches will blunt your garbage disposal’s blades. Since the blades are not strong enough to break these seeds down, they will simply bounce around the blades and dull them.

• Coffee Grounds – Disposal and drains are prime spots for coffee grounds to stick since they are constantly wet. Though some coffee grounds are fine and thin, they become compact once stuck together by liquid. This sludgy or even densely packed form you find in your coffee filters can clog drains perfectly.

• Starchy Foods – Pasta, potato peels, nuts, oats, and other starchy foods take in water and get gummy. Oats and peanut butter are made and eaten through the same process of mixing in water. Imagine this sticky substance rolling around your disposal or sticking in your drains. What’s worse, the starch from these foods can also dull garbage disposal blades. 

• Onion Skins and Egg Shells – The membranes inside onion skins and eggshells are too thin for disposal blades to grind and break down. Instead, they stick to the surfaces when wet. Accumulated waste of these will tangle and clog the disposal. Better throw peelings on a compost than down the drain.

Paying attention to these is important to utilize the lifespan and efficient use of the garbage disposal. Throwing these items in tiny amounts accidentally will not break the garbage disposal immediately. However, putting these materials down through the drain can eventually tire and clog your disposal system.

Call the Professionals at SLO County Plumbing and Drain Cleaning!

In case you find your garbage disposal broken down, it would be best to call professional services to better inspect, assess, and of course, repair the problem. Call SLO County Plumbing and Drain Cleaning Inc.

SLO County Plumbing & Drain Cleaning Inc. has been a family-owned and operated business since 1997. They are a fully insured and bonded plumbing contractor, servicing San Luis Obispo County with an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. There truly is no better team to trust! To check all their services and request their service, visit their website: https://slocountyplumbinginc.com, send them an email at info@slocountyplumbinginc.com, or call them at 805.543.7586.

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