Garbage Disposal Do’s and Don’ts!

All of Brentmoor's  apartment home are equipped with a garbage disposal in the kitchen— an added convenience to your living experience! The garbage disposal  are primarily used to shread food wate into smaller pieces that won't clog the pipes, while reducing your amount of trash. We'd like to think there's "nothing a garbage disposal can't disintegrate", but what can it really handle?

Case in point, have you ever accidentally dropped a spoon down there? Not a pretty sight. A garbage disposal has a powerful motor and blade, however, there are certain things that you SHOULD NOT put down the disposal, and we don't mean obvious things like utensils or most importantly your fingers!

Many vegetables are too stringy or fibrous to go down the disposal, getting caught in the motor and leading to a clogged drain and you may be surprised which basic, everyday veggies you're not supposed to be throwing in the disposal. Additionally, certain starchy leftover foods should never go down the disposal because they can swell and clog the drain. 

Items NOT to be put down the garbage disposal:

• Grease or oil (grease and oil congeals into a big mass that clogs the pipes)
• Vegetable peels (such as onion skin, artichoke, potatoes, pea pods)
• Pasta products (pasta expands in the pipes, even after its been shredded)
• Rice Products (just like pasta, rice expands)
• Stringy veggies (such as corn husks, asparagus)
• Coffee grounds
• Pits / Seeds
• Lettuce
• Bones/Shells (items such as shrimp shells are tough and don't leave a pleasant scent)
• Glass
• Coins
• Screws
• Silverware 
• Garbage (cigarette butts / paper products)
• Anything in bulk

ICE
Although it may sounds terrible in the garbage disposal, but it won't hurt it! Some think it cleans the inside of the garbage disposal, but we don't think it does much by itself. You can, however, add some things to it to help clean your disposal. If you add eggshells or rock salt the ice beats them around the surface on the inside while the sharp edges on the eggshells or rock salt will scrape stuff off. There are people who say ice sharpens the blades in the garbage disposal. The parts in the garbage disposal can't be sharpened by putting something in it. Cleaning the garbage disposal will help it run more efficiently, but putting things in it will not sharpen it. Only small amounts of table scraps should go into the disposal!

OTHER HELPFUL TIPS

• When using your disposal, always run your disposal with COLD water.
• Run the disposal a couple of minutes with the COLD water running to prevent clogging
• If you are shoving something in the disposal, its probably too big. 
• Make Homemade Garbage Disposal Refreshers
• Replace cover or sink strainer in garbage disposal when not in use to prevent unwanted objects from falling in

The old adage of “less is more” definitely applies to the garbage disposal!