A few weeks ago my husband peeled an orange and stuck it in the sink, to be disposed of by the lovely garbage disposal. I got after him and told him orange peels couldn't go in the disposal. He was confused and asked why I could put lemons in the disposal (to clean it) but not orange peels. I realized I didn't know why, but that is just what I had been taught.
Being Type A, I googled it. And I found out some interesting things on garbage disposals.So the bad news? According to most plumbers, very little food should be going down the disposal. It is meant for the food that does get left behind.
But really...who is going to scrape out their kids' bowls of cereal into the garbage when there is a perfectly capable tool right there to clean it up neatly?
So on the one extreme you have people who say you should not put ANYTHING down the drain, and on the other hand there are people who will put EVERYTHING down the drain.
Okay, almost everything...minus the notorious potato peels.
But really most garbage disposals are fully capable of grinding up just about anything, but there are few things you should NEVER put in your disposal.
*Potato peels
*fiberous or stringy foods such as celery, asparagus, artichoke hearts, etc.
*rice and pasta (because it can expand just like potato peels) -I'm really bad at this one.
*Potato peels
*fiberous or stringy foods such as celery, asparagus, artichoke hearts, etc.
*rice and pasta (because it can expand just like potato peels) -I'm really bad at this one.
Anyway, so my new motto is, if I can realistically scrape it (meat scraps, leftover apple slices, etc) put it in the garbage. If not, it goes down the drain (mac n' cheese, cereal, etc.).All citrus can clean the disposal great. However, I only do this in moderation. I don't put all the peels from the 2 oranges I give my kids down the drain. Just a few pieces.
Also, grinding up ice cubes can sharpen your blades in the disposal...who would've thought!
And if you really want to deodorize your disposal you can buy disposal cleaner at the supermarket. Or if you cheap, like me, use 3 Tablespoons of Borax (found in the laundry aisle) let it sit in the disposal for an hour then run HOT water and run the disposal for several minutes to clean it all up.There you have it...the skinny on garbage disposals.
Real Mom's Dinner: Last night we had pork chops, parley red potatoes, carrot sticks, and pineapple. We will either have homemade pizza tonight or broccoli and beef...it's almost 5:00 and I can't decide.
Ok, I thought it was just limes that weren't suppose to go down as far as citrus goes. They will never grind up. Dad has always been picky about what goes down but I like my disposal. I have gotten more careful. Anything that is not too messy or gross I put in the garbage everything else~ the disposal. Maybe I will try the borax. One lesson I learned, don't put lots of ice down at once. It will freeze the little rubber gaskets on the side and they will crack.
ReplyDeleteI learned the hard way I was always careful what I put down the disposal but found it is not good on the sewer line. Never put egg shells or onion skins you left those out. I find a good product to clean it is White vinegar and baking soda really works well bubbles up and cleans the sides and opening as well. There are some products made for cleaning that old disposal.
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