Your garbage disposal systems are a crucial component of your kitchen, which is why ensuring its efficiency is a must. Regular maintenance and cleaning by a local plumber can ensure that it stays in working condition, but knowing a bit about the basics can help prolong the service life of this nifty machine.
The most basic instructions when running your garbage disposal is to run it regularly and use running cold water to solidify grease to let it be ground. On top of that, the idea to keep in mind is that only biodegradables should go into the disposal. Despite this rule, however, there are certain common biodegradable trash that can potentially ruin your disposal’s functionality.
To help you in this, here are 5 common biodegradable items that you should stop putting down your garbage disposal immediately.
Grease and Fatty Products
Grease and product with copious amounts of fat or oil shouldn’t be thrown down your garbage disposal unit. Although running cold water allows some of it to be ground, it becomes more difficult to manage in bigger amounts. If unchecked, then your drain pipe can get clogged—leading to more problems down the line.
Onion Skin
Onions go into the chute quite often, however, there is a certain part of the onion that can prove dangerous for your disposal system. The thin wet layer underneath the initial papery outer skin is too thin to be thrown in. This particular part runs the chance of clogging your drain, trapping the shredded food that attempts to pass through. The same goes for most vegetable peelings, so be wary of those too.
Fibrous products
Fibrous food products also run the potential of ruining your garbage disposal’s machinations. While it can be shredded to a certain degree, they have the tendency to wrap around the blades, causing a major clog at the beginning of your garbage disposal unit. When this happens, you’ll need to contact an emergency plumbing service immediately to have it fixed, else you could get injured if you attempt to extract it.
Banana peels, corn husks, artichoke leaves, and asparagus are the most common examples of fibrous products. If you have these on-hand, then toss them into the compost instead.
Pasta, Rice, and Beans
These three products are capable of absorbing copious amounts of water thus causing them to expand. While these can easily be handled by your disposal’s blades, large amounts of them can expand enough to clog your drain.
Tough Items
Just because certain materials are biodegradable doesn’t mean they’ll be easily chewed up by your garbage disposal unit. Certain tough food products such as nuts and fruit pits can damage your blades and cause it to malfunction.
The same goes for crustacean shells and large bones—these won’t only be difficult to toss in, but these will definitely not be taken in properly by your disposal unit. Shrimp shells, in particular, are quite difficult to shred despite its small size and can damage your blades significantly while leaving a bad odor across your kitchen.
Conclusion
Garbage disposal units may be strong machines, but improper use can easily wear it down. By knowing what you can and can’t run through it, you can preserve the service life while ensuring no big breaks happen during use. If a clog or break occurs, however, then contact a 24/7 emergency plumbing repairs service immediately for help.
Are you looking for more plumbing tips and tricks that will help you at home? At Plumber Charlotte, NC, we have lots of interesting articles about plumbing systems and how to maintain them!
