How to Save Yourself From Garbage Disposal
The chute’s job is to stay out of sight and make food waste disappear. So when it works properly, it’s easy to forget about it. This, in turn, makes it difficult to remember that your garbage chute is a device that requires at least minimal maintenance.
But aside from throwing non-food items and things like grease and oil down the chute , what else can you do? As it turns out, there are several ways to keep your garbage disposal in top condition and avoid costly repairs. Here’s what to do.
Always run water when using
It’s not enough to just flip a switch: make sure your sink is running while you have the trash disposal system turned on. Think of it like taking a sip of water when you’re swallowing pills, except in this scenario the food waste is the pills and the chute and pipes are your throat.
Make sure the water is cold
And while we’re on the subject, always run cold water when cleaning up the trash: this will get the food moving, hardening/solidifying any fats. On the other hand, hot water melts fats and softens food, which makes it easier for them to stick to the walls of the appliance.
Run it every few days
Even if you don’t think you have food scraps to grind up, run the trash can every few days. This ensures that any food bits don’t harden in there and the disposal components don’t rust or corrode due to not being used.
Keep it a little longer
Once you’ve flipped the switch to start scavenging, it’s usually pretty easy to tell when it’s finished chopping food based on the sound it makes. But when it sounds like it’s done, don’t turn it off right away.
Instead, let the drain (and cold water) run for about a minute more to make sure you’re allowing the waste to pass through the drain pipe. You can also add a few drops of dish soap at this point to clean the drain and pipe.