Photo© Juri Semjonow Peeling potatoes with potato peeler.
Avoid clogs and backups with these tips:
Do:
– Run cold water for ten seconds before and after using a garbage disposal to help carry waste down the drain.
– Crush ice cubes to clean and sharpen disposal blades.
– Use citrus fruits to break down built-up gunk inside of a garbage disposal and
cut down bad odors.
– Flush with biodegradable dish soap or disposal fluid to flush out grease.
Don’t put in:
– Coffee Grounds, The thick dense paste clogs the drain. Compost instead.
– Grease. Grease solidifies as it cools and sits on the bottom of the disposal unit or sticks to the pipes on the way to the sewer. Bag and trash instead.
– Eggshells. The membrane on the inside of the shells wraps around the blades creating a sticky blockage.
– Onion Skins. Onion skins also have a skin membrane on the inside of the skin.
– Potato Peels. Potato peels can be thin enough to slip through the blades without being minced finely causing a barrier in a sink trap which could lead to a clog.
– Hard Foods. Bones, nuts, pits, and other hard food scraps are too tough for disposal blades to cut through causing jams or blade damage.
– Dry Expandable Foods like pasta, oats, and rice continue to expand in a sink’s plumbing system, leading to an eventual clog.