The kitchen is the heart of your home; it’s where everyone gathers after school and work and has a snack; it’s where everyone goes to get dinner and gathers for breakfast in the morning. Keep your kitchen in great working order by treating the garbage disposal with care.
Foods to Avoid
There are some foods that should never go down the drain because they’ll either damage the disposal or lead to clogs in the pipes.
- Grease. While the grease may seem harmless in its liquid state, as it cools, it forms a sticky, goopy, and then solid mess that can trap other debris and cause major blockages.
- Coffee grounds and eggshells. These small particles can easily get caught in the curves of the pipes.
- Starches. Foods like pasta, rice, and potatoes will break down in the water and create a paste-like substance that can create clogs.
- Fibrous foods. Fibrous foods, when they’re put into the garbage disposal, break down into a stringy mess. These strands get wrapped around the blades or hammers in your disposal and can cause clogs. Avoid tossing foods like celery, corn husks, and asparagus in the disposal.
Foods That Are Okay
While we may have just told you to avoid a lot of types of food, the whole point of your garbage disposal is to dispose of food scraps. These are the types of foods that you can safely toss into your garbage disposal.
- Citrus. To freshen up the smell of your disposal and kitchen, toss some citrus pieces into the disposal and run it. However, before throwing the parts into the sink, make sure to cut them up smaller.
- Liquids. With the exception of liquid grease, almost any other kind of liquid is safe to toss in the garbage disposal!
Mistakes happen, and when they do, and you have a clogged kitchen sink on your hands, contact our team of drain cleaning professionals for immediate assistance. Visit our website or call us at (623) 335-0000.