Having a garbage disposal in your home is a huge convenience. It saves you time and often prevents your trash from smelling bad, but if misused, your garbage disposal can cause far worse problems than smelly trash. In order to avoid bigger, more expensive issues, it is important to avoid putting certain food items down your disposal.
Never Put These Food Items Down Your Disposal
Garbage disposals can be tricky to understand because they don’t always appear to have a problem until it is too late. You may even think your garbage disposal is not experiencing any problems at all, but over time these certain food items may be causing incremental damage. If the damage becomes too severe, it may even affect your drain pipes. Never put the following down your garbage disposal:
- Any fibrous vegetables – Vegetables, such as kale, rhubarb, onions, celery, lettuce, and artichoke, should never be put down the drain. Due to their high fiber, these vegetables can actually become tangles around the blades. Less fibrous vegetables such as squash or mushrooms should be perfectly fine.
- Eggshells – This one may shock you, but the membranes within eggshells can turn into a gum-like substance and get stuck to the blades of your disposal, which can cause clogs later on.
- Oils, fats, or grease – Oils, fats, and grease can absorb other materials while in the drain, leading to clogs and foul smells.
- Pasta or oats – When combined with water, these foods expand. You wouldn’t want them expanding in your drain, causing clogs and producing a foul odor.
Keep Your Drains Clean and Clear
By ensuring that nothing goes down your garbage disposal that shouldn’t, you are protecting your pipes and drains from suffering damage that could have been prevented. If you are currently experiencing any clogged drains or unwanted smells, contact Efficient Plumbing.