Your garbage disposal is a useful piece of kitchen equipment which nevertheless deserves good
care and attention, as any other kitchen tool. While it can handle plenty of types of foods and
waste, it is recommended to avoid disposing of several items. This article talks about five things
you should never put down your garbage disposal.
1. Grease
Grease and oil will not damage the blades themselves but they can form a greasy coating on the
blades and decrease the machine’s efficiency. What’s more, in time they can clog the pipes and
this can lead to troublesome plumbing issues.
2. Coffee
Coffee, both in the form of grounds and beans, can clog your garbage disposal, this is why it is
not recommended to get rid of these remains by throwing them in the sink. While the coffee
grounds may seem to be an easy job for the garbage disposal, they can, in time, form a sediment-
like substance. You can throw them in the trash can or, if you prefer, make compost.
3. Fibrous vegetables
Examples include celery, asparagus and corn husks. These are made out of fibrous strings that
tangle around the garbage disposal’s blades.
4. Fruit pits
Fruit pits are another fruit byproduct that should not be through down the garbage disposal. A
food example is to think of how hard it is to pierce through an avocado seed, for example, and
then imagine how your garbage disposal would handle that – even if it is a powerful and modern
model. You can risk not only damaging the blades but also burning the motor.
5. Pasta and rice
Starchy foods like pasta, rice and potatoes can clog the pipes if you repeatedly throw them into
the garbage disposal. A good example is to imagine how pasta or rice that has been left in water
for too long tends to swell. When thrown down the drain these foods are likely to swell and clog
the pipes, causing additional plumbing problems. The same can apply to potato peals, which
have been known to accumulate and, in time, block the disposal.
You can unclog the garbage disposal by using a wrench to unblock any parts and then cleaning
and washing the device as needed.
6. Bones
When throwing bones in the garbage disposal the usual outcome will be that they will continue
to spin endlessly around the blades. And even if or when the blades finally chop them down, it is
likely that they will not go down the drain pipes. Similarly, you should avoid throwing clam or
oyster shells.
Although they are not the equivalent of bones, egg shells are another item you should not dispose
of via the garbage disposal. While the blades of the grinder are strong enough to handle the shells
themselves, it possible for the membrane lining to wrap around the shredder.
While foodstuffs and leftovers are the types of things most commonly thrown down the garbage
disposer, we recommend avoiding throwing any non-food items like cigarette buds, fabric,
sponges or rubber bands.
Whenever you are having issues with your garbage disposal that you cannot resolve by yourself,
you can contact a Singapore plumber. This is recommended especially if significant repairs or
a complete replacement is needed.
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Absolutely and I try to avoid putting these down to garbage disposal and it is too troublesome once everything is clogged.
This is such an eye-opener. I never quite know the damage these things will cause. Gosh. What a comprehensive list. You’ve got it all covered here. Thanks for sharing. I’m much enlightened now about what I can and can’t throw into the bin and best of all calling the right guy for the job. Genius! Thanks.
We try to not to throw anything down the sink and unclog the sink ourselves every now and then too especially for the grease.. it really can be such a huge, inconvenient problem when it does!
Ai @ Sakura Haruka
Great article for people like me who just moved to the USA n first time using the garbage disposal. Never had to use one before in msia/spore.
But old habits die hard, I still throw all my foodstuff in the garbage… Lols
Will let mr. hubby read this!
Xoxo,
Jamie chaw
(http://karmie080808.blogspot.sg)
Yes! such a good advise and tips.
Always remind myself and my family..watchout whenever use a sink..its very paintful when ur sink had a probs geng..huhuhu
There’s a lot of Recycle bin can be found in the household area in our area! Thanks for sharing this informative post, and now I gain more knowledge on how we should do with our garbage disposal!
tq dear for sharing … its very painfull if ur sink had a probs …oh no !
Hi, You have really shared your views on such a nice and interesting topic. Liked it. People are not really concern about it these things but the points you have raised matters like coupon data api which can help in many ways for people.
Thanks For sharing it.
Interesting topic, I enjoy reading your story, thanks for sharing ?
Getting pipes unclogged is very troublesome! I would rather engage professionals to do the job rather than going hands on, even if it’s cheaper.
Good advice for everyone. I usually throw these garbage in the rubbish bin.
For ground coffee beans, i used to collect them, let it sun dry and sprinkled it to my plants as natural fertilizers. It is economical.
alwys throw away all the sampah dekat tong sampah..takde tinggalkan sisa dekat sinki
Basically you should never put anything down your sink that isn’t liquid! great tips.. Which reminds me.. I should check my sinks too – they are due for servicing haha
Clogged pipe is such a nuisance. Will try all these tips to avoid one
Have a compost pit before more headache happen! myself hate troubling ppl to help remove the blockage…
Oh my. I am guilty of having throwing all those down my drains hahaha. Am so sorry Mr Pumber sir.
Good read! I always try to make sure that I don’t do this to my sink as much as I can. It would be more troublesome when we have issues with the pipe. Money spent for repair aside, imagine the inconvenience that we hafta go thru 🙁
I would never want to have that clogged sink again. The last I had was a nightmare.
Lucky i don’t have this problem. Always told my children to take care the sink and everything that can give problem so we don’t spend a lot of money to repair the thing that we can take care
Better to make a compost pit for these kind of garbage. They can decay and a good fertilizer for soil.