If you are experiencing unpleasant odors in your kitchen, don’t blame the cook. The source of the odor may be your garbage disposal. Most home owners don’t think of their garbage disposal as an appliance that needs occasional maintenance. Learn about garbage disposal cleaning techniques to keep a clean disposal.
Garbage disposals do not have blades or sharp edges that chop items up. They consist of two chambers, an upper hopper chamber, and a lower hopper chamber. The upper chamber contains a flywheel with slits or holes that have small impeller blades. Their purpose is to mash stuff up and to force the resulting slurry down through the holes or slits in the flywheel. Once this step is done the slurry simply flows into the drain. Food particles often get caught in the nooks and crevices of the garbage disposal and drainpipe. This supports the growth of mold and bacteria, creating unpleasant odors.
This is why it is important to be aware of what items should not be put into a garbage disposal. This includes anything that cannot be chopped into small pieces or will not totally dissolve. Fibrous foods like banana peels, celery, and potato skins are examples.
Learn about garbage disposal cleaning:
* Turn the unit on and run the cold water.
* Empty three to four trays of ice cubes into the sink and feed them into the disposal as quickly as possible. They will freeze to the debris, forcing it to dislodge from the impeller blades and through the holes in the flywheel.
* Allow the water to run at least one minute afterward.
If there is a foul odor emanating from the garbage disposal, you can chop up a lemon or orange and run the disposal. Be careful to chop into small pieces so the disposal can handle the peel. Always run lots of water when using the garbage disposal- before, during, and after. If your garbage disposal clogs and you cannot dislodge the culprit you can contact us for help. For ongoing maintenance and freshness, it is useful to create a “volcano” in the garbage disposal. This is done by pouring 1/2 cup of baking soda followed by one cup of vinegar. Allow the mixture to foam and bubble (kids enjoy watching this), and let sit for five to ten minutes. Then run very hot water while the disposal is running to flush everything down the drain.
