Garbage disposals can make doing the dishes easy. It’s great when you can just scrape off extra food into the sink and put it down the drain. However, not everything can go down the disposal. While you might think you know everything not to put down your garbage disposal, some things on this list might surprise you! Read now and save your drain later!
- Bones, fruit pits or other hard items – this is a no-brainer, but generally a good rule to follow is that if you can’t break an item, your garbage disposal probably can’t either.
- Coffee Grounds – it seems like coffee grounds go down the disposal easily, in fact, they are just piling up at the bottom of your disposal, clogging your drain.
- Grease – this is the most well-known item not to put down the disposal. While poured down as a liquid, grease will coagulate and harden in the drain, clogging things up.
- Egg Shells – there is a debate about egg shells down the disposal, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Many people think the egg membranes from the shells wrap around the blades and stick to the disposal, which causes problems. You can always use egg shells in your compost pile instead!
- Celery or fibrous veggies – the long stringy fibers in celery and other veggies like can wrap around the blades of your disposal, creating a clog that is hard to untangle.
- Pasta – While pasta fills your stomach, it also fills your garbage disposal! If you put pasta down your disposal, it will continue to swell and absorb the water from your sink, leading to clogs.
- Oatmeal – like pasta, oatmeal will also absorb water and turn into a big sticky blog.
- Nuts – thing carefully about how peanut butter is made. A bunch of nuts get ground up and then form a paste. Don’t accidentally make peanut butter in your disposal and clog it up!
- Potato peels – Similar to nuts, potato peels will get all mashed up in your garbage disposal and become a sticky blob. Also, potato peels are often covered with dirt, which is harmful for your disposal.
- Chicken skin – Similar to grease, fatty foods coagulate in the drain. Also, the stringiness of chicken skin can wrap around the blade of your disposal, making it difficult to run.
As always, if you have a clogged garbage disposal – Aloha Plumbing is here to help! Our team of professional technicians will get your disposal running again in no time. Contact us or give us a call today!