Thanksgiving and Chanukkah (and, of course this year, Thanksgivukkah) are just around the corner, with Christmas and New Year’s right behind. That means entertaining. That means lots of food to prepare and eat. And that also means lots of food that will end up going down your garbage disposer.
The garbage disposer (aka garbage disposal) is a useful kitchen appliance that gives the homeowner an alternate method of disposing of food waste. Food waste in the garbage can cause odors in the house and attract rodents when thrown away outside.
There are, of course, some best practices when using the disposer.
- Stuff yourself if you want, but don’t stuff the disposer. Feed the waste slowly into the disposer so that it is not overloaded.
- Always run cold water while running the disposer and keep the water running for a minute after turning off the disposer. The cold water helps to coagulate fats in the food to prevent those fats from attaching to the waste pipe, stopping up the kitchen drain. Running water will also help to carry the waste from the disposer down the drain piping.
- It is a disposer or disposal, not a dispos-ALL. Avoid putting anything stringy down the disposer such as celery, onion peels, artichoke leaves, corn husks, and banana peels. Also do not put coffee grounds down the disposer.
- Before your party and periodically during the year, use a preventative maintenance chemical. It will help to prevent stoppages in the kitchen sink drain line. DO NOT use products such as Drano as they contain a strong base that will damage the piping. Call us at 847.579.5549 to obtain chemicals specific for kitchen use.
