A recent discussion around our house brought up the subject of garbage disposals. When I was young my family had quite a few issues with plumbing that were the bane of many a holiday gathering. Since then I have lived in quite a few places that were rural and on septic tanks so we didn’t even use garbage disposal, but instead had composite piles or wildlife to feed scraps to. A few places were so old we just didn’t want to chance the plumbing having more issues after foundation work so we sought advice from professional plumbers on proper usage of a garbage disposal. Our current neighbors actually took their garbage disposal out when they purchased the house because they just don’t believe in them after previous issues and also having lived rurally.
So the real question is what NOT to put down a garbage disposal. It is important to realize the difference in the items you put down your sink. While your garbage disposal is a handy appliance in the kitchen, this handy appliance has its limits! After all it is NOT an in sink trash can and treating it as such can backfire as time goes on.
Many everyday items actually dull the blades or create a paste like build up on them, coat and clog your pipes and can lead to expensive plumbing problems over time. So, think hard before you throw things down the drain. You want to keep your kitchen sink happy and running smoothly.
Some of these items are listed because they are known to cause obvious clogs and plumbing problems and some are also harmful to our water supply. Many can cause odors also.
Do NOT put these in the garbage disposal:
- Rice, Pasta, Oatmeal and other starches – sounds strange, but they can bloat with water turning into a sticky goo like paste and clog your pipes
- Animal bones – they do not sharpen the blades, it’s just a myth and cannot be fully ground up
- Grease and meat fats – While it appears to flow easily down the drain it will eventually solidify SOMEWHERE in the line the inside of your pipes, and clog. Cooking grease is one of the biggest causes of kitchen clogs. Let them cool and solidify before adding them to your trash can.
- Fibrous Vegetables – celery stalks, asparagus spears and especially corn husks – their long fibers can get tangled up in the ring and potentially jam the motor.
- Egg shells – they do not sharpen your disposal’s blades, they just cause clogs when their sharp jagged edges catch other foods like asparagus, celery, potato or carrot peels and even lettuce. The egg membrane on the inside of the shell contribute to the sludge and / or the paste build up on the blades.
- Peels or skins of any kind! – banana peel, potato skin, avocado skin, onion skins – they are tough, fibrous, and do not break down easily, which can cause jams in the unit or create significant blockages in your pipes. Avocado skins, like other fibrous peels, can turn into a paste that builds up on blades
- Fruit pits – these items are tough to break down, they can damage or dull the blades of your disposal
- Coffee grounds – yes they are small, but they like to hang out in the pipes and collect cooking grease and meat fats to create a sludge in your pipes that can eventually make it impossible for anything else to pass.
- Non-Food Items like a coffee filters, the sticky label on your apple skin, etc… just don’t break down and can create a multitude of issues on the inside that you just can’t see.
The old adage of “less is more” definitely applies to the garbage disposal. Only small amounts of table scraps should go into the disposal – the best idea is to scrape all remaining table scraps into the trash can before rinsing the plate.
