Plumbers Say You Should Never Put These 8 Things Down Your Garbage Disposal
I have to admit I used to treat my garbage disposal like a magic black hole. It is so tempting to just scrape every single plate directly into the sink and let the machine do the work. It feels incredibly convenient in the moment. But after talking to a few plumbers I realized I was actually setting myself up for a massive headache and a very expensive repair bill down the line. Let us talk about what should never go down your garbage disposal.
Pasta And Rice
It is so easy to let a few leftover noodles or some stray rice slip down the drain while doing dishes. The problem is that these foods naturally absorb water. Even after they are cooked, pasta and rice will continue to swell up like tiny sponges every time you turn the faucet on. A small handful of rice can easily expand and create a gummy blockage that forces water to back up into your sink.
Bacon Grease And Cooking Oils
The biggest mistake we all make is pouring leftover cooking fat right down the drain. When grease is hot it flows like water so it seems perfectly fine. But the second that liquid fat hits the cold pipes under your house it hardens into a thick sticky block. It acts like glue and catches every other piece of food that comes down the line, turning into a major clog. You should always pour your grease into a disposable container instead.
Coffee Grounds
Dumping the filter from your morning coffee into the sink feels like a harmless habit. The grounds are already tiny so you assume they will wash away easily. However, plumbers say that coffee grounds actually clump together when they get wet. They form a thick sludgy paste that gets trapped in the curves of your plumbing. Over time, that muddy buildup will completely choke off the water flow. Your garden or compost bin is a much better spot to dump them.
Eggshells
There is a very old rumor that grinding up eggshells helps sharpen the blades of your garbage disposal. That is completely false. The blades do not actually need sharpening in that way. The real danger of putting eggshells down the disposal is the thin sticky membrane inside the shell. That clear film can easily peel off and wrap itself tightly around the moving parts of the motor. The crushed shells also turn into a fine sand that settles in the bottom of the pipes. It’s better to compost these or put them in your garbage instead.
Celery And Asparagus
Vegetables are healthy for us, but certain ones are terrible for our sinks. Stringy foods like celery or asparagus and even corn husks are full of tough fibrous threads. When these go into the garbage disposal, the blades cannot chop them cleanly. Instead the long strings wrap around the grinding mechanism just like how hair gets caught in a vacuum cleaner brush. This can completely jam the motor and burn the machine out in seconds.
Potato Peels
Peeling a huge pile of potatoes for dinner creates a lot of mess on the counter. Sweeping all those peels into the sink is tempting but you really need to resist doing that. Potato peels are packed with starch. When they get mashed up by the disposal they turn into a thick and sticky paste. It is very similar to kindergarten glue. That paste will coat the inside of your pipes and trap absolutely everything else passing by, turning into a pretty nasty clog.
Hard Bones And Fruit Pits
Your garbage disposal is surprisingly tough but it is not completely invincible. Dropping chicken bones or a hard peach pit down the drain is asking for trouble. The motor is designed to mash soft food into a pulp, not crush solid wood or bone. These hard items will bounce around loudly and dent the grinding walls. They can even bend or break the metal impellers leaving you with a totally useless appliance that needs replacing. Throw bines and pits in the garbage, not down your sink.
Harsh Liquid Drain Cleaners
When the sink finally does start to drain a little bit slowly, our first instinct is usually to grab a bottle of chemical drain cleaner. But plumbers strongly advise against doing this if you have a disposal attached. The harsh chemicals in those bottles generate a lot of heat. They can easily melt the plastic seals inside the machine and corrode the metal parts over time. A plunger or a manual snake is always the safer choice for a drain with a garbage disposal.
Related Articles
-8 Everyday Items You Should Never Pour Down The Drain, According To Plumbers
-Put A Bag of Coins Over Your Drain — Here's Why It Actually Works
-3 Easy Chemical-Free Ways To Clear A Clogged Drain
It is honestly a little bit surprising to learn how delicate our heavy appliances actually are. We rely on them so much to keep our kitchens clean and running smoothly. Making a few small changes to what we scrape into the trash can really help them last longer and save you from costly repairs. Your garbage disposal will thank you!
Bliss Donahue-Power
