When you get a new garbage disposal for your home, it’s very tempting to think it’s invincible and that you can dump anything down there to get rid of it. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, and you can even damage your disposal by putting the wrong thing in it.
Today, we’re looking at 5 different things that should never go down your garbage disposal.
Bones
We understand that the blades of your disposal look tough enough to handle small, fragile animal bones. However, those bones are tougher than they look and have the power to wreak havoc on your garbage disposal. Even small bones can chip or break your disposal blades, so it is best to throw bones in the trash can instead.
Coffee Grounds
Dumping your coffee grounds in the disposal may not seem so bad; they’re not hard like bones, so it follows logically that nothing bad will happen, right?
Wrong. The thing that makes coffee grounds a danger to your disposal is the fact that they clump together. The grounds stick to each other and everything else around them, and that includes your garbage disposal. As a result, the blades, the pipes in your sink, and anything else they touch will be covered in gooey grounds, which can lead to serious clogs in your drain.
Avocado Pits
Who doesn’t love avocado toast? The avocado is a staple for many homeowners, and surely a seed can’t hurt your disposal, right?
Unfortunately, the seemingly smooth, harmless pit is so hard that it does a lot of damage in very little time, leaving you with a broken disposal. So, the next time you’re whipping up some guacamole, throw the avocado pit away or save it for planting.
Pasta
Pasta may not seem like a danger to your disposal, at first; it’s soft, squishy, and easy for the blades to chop up the way they’re supposed to. However, pasta has a secret weapon that can gum up your disposal: starch.
Since pasta is high in starch, and starchy foods stick to everything, dumping excess pasta down the disposal can have some bad consequences. Additionally, the wetter pasta gets, the more it expands and becomes a slimy, tangled mess. Save yourself the trouble of tangled spaghetti and dispose of those leftovers in the trash instead.
Grease or Frying Oil
Whether it’s bacon grease, juice from your hamburger, or the veggie oil you fried your chicken in, grease and oil have no place in your garbage disposal. This sticky stuff may slide down easily when hot, but as it cools, it congeals into a gelatinous glob. This grease can coat your disposal’s blades, clog the drain, and start to smell bad if it sits there too long. So please keep your disposal grease free.
Maintain and repair your garbage disposal with Yoder Plumbing!
A clean disposal is a functional disposal, but we all make mistakes sometimes. So the next time you dump coffee grounds, frying oil, or anything else on this list in your disposal, call the experts at Yoder Plumbing.
Contact us today to learn more!