Maintenance Tips to Keep Your Garbage Disposal Running Like New
Garbage disposals are a handy way to deal with leftover scraps of food, but if you’re not careful, they can easily become smelly or broken. Thankfully, by following a few simple steps, you can keep your garbage disposal running like its brand new for ages.
Here are four of the easiest ways to care for your disposal:
Use It Frequently
Just like a car, a garbage disposal won’t work well if you never give it a chance to do its job. Run it at least every few days to ensure that the parts aren’t freezing, rusting, or corroding. Plus, the regular use will help make sure that no nasty bits of old food are hiding down there for too long.
Pay Attention to What You’re Shoving into the Disposal
There are certain things that should never be placed in the garbage disposal. Pasta and rice can expand as they soak up water, causing the disposal to clog and break. Bones and other extremely hard objects can jam the mechanism or even get stuck in your pipes. Oil and grease can solidify down in the disposal, clogging pipes and preventing the blades from turning. Glass, metal objects, paper, and plastic should also never be placed in the disposal.
Let It Run for a Long Period of Time
If you just flick the disposal on and immediately shut it off, you probably aren’t doing it any favors. Instead, let the water run through the disposal and keep it on for roughly a minute. The extra time will make sure that the disposal grinds up all the food properly and gets flushed out so it’s ready for use the next time.
Use the Disposal to Grind Up Citrus Fruits
To prevent your disposal from acquiring a nasty odor, send a few orange, lime, or lemon peels down there every once in awhile. The peels will help wipe up any excess waste rotting near the disposal, and the strong scent will help reduce unpleasant smells.
Think there might be something wrong with your garbage disposal? Then you might need to contact a professional like Reichelt Plumbing Inc. Their reputable workers can handle broken plumbing systems quickly and efficiently throughout South Cook County and Northwest Indiana. To schedule an appointment or speak to a representative, call [phone] or visit https://www.reicheltplumbing.com/ or give them a call.