When your kitchen’s garbage disposal is working properly, it can be a great appliance. It can help keep your kitchen smelling fresh and make cleaning up after a meal easy. In addition, it can even reduce the amount of garbage that goes into a landfill if used properly. However, if not properly maintained, your garbage disposal can cause lots of problems and make your home stink. Fortunately, there are some simple garbage disposal maintenance tips you can follow to help get the most out of your garbage disposal.
Here are five tips for performing proper garbage disposal maintenance:
Dispose of biodegradable food only
If you’re not sure if something should go in the garbage disposal, there’s a simple question you should ask yourself. Is what you want to dispose of biodegradable food, like some carrots? If not, always throw it out. Despite the name, your garbage disposal isn’t a trash can. Putting the wrong things down the garbage disposal can damage the blades and the motor. There are certain foods that also shouldn’t go down there, but this general rule can cover the majority of garbage.
Keep your garbage disposal clean
Since you rarely see the inside of your garbage disposal, it’s easy to forget that it needs cleaning as well. An easy way to clean it is to pour a little dish soap into the drain and let the disposal run. Let the garbage disposal run for about a minute while you run some cold water down the drain. In addition, you can also pour some baking soda and vinegar down the drain to clean it as well.
Use it regularly with cold water
Running your garbage disposal frequently prevents rust and corrosion, ensures all the parts are moving, and prevents obstructions from accumulating. You should also run the cold water full blast when grinding food waste. By doing this, grease or oils that get into the drain will solidify and help avoid clogging up the trap.
Cut up larger items beforehand
While your garbage disposal chops up items that go down it, you should chop up bigger items before inserting them into the disposal. The garbage disposal may have trouble handling larger items and might clog if you force things down there. In addition, put larger items in one at a time to help avoid clogging issues.
Never put your hands in the disposal
Sometimes you might be able to get something stuck in your garbage disposal out with your bare hands. Don’t do it! Even if it’s off, the garbage disposal’s blades may spring into action due to the sudden release of tension. It’s a much better idea to use pliers if you need to dislodge wedged food. If you still can’t get the food out, call Fetch-A-Tech experts to help you fix the appliance.
What makes Fetch-A-Tech a great choice for fixing my plumbing?
If you’re like most homeowners, you probably don’t even think twice about your garbage disposal until it experiences a problem. You depend on this appliance to serve you day after day, so why would you settle for anything less than the best available service? Fetch-A-Tech regularly trains our plumbing technicians on the latest makes and models to equip them to serve you best and get your home working again in no time.
Whether your disposal simply refuses to turn on, no longer works correctly, or you’ve got a clog built up further down your drain line, we can come to your home, accurately diagnose the issue, and set things right again. We can even help retrofit a new disposal system into an older home that may not have a garbage disposal installed by default. We make it our mission to get your kitchen working seamlessly again so you can go back to living life in stress-free comfort. Call Fetch-A-Tech today at 725-238-4545 or contact us online to learn more about our plumbing services!