Maintaining a Garbage Disposal
The garbage disposal helps to reduce the trash being thrown away and keep it from the landfill. When operating perfectly, the garbage disposal chops and churns the food particles into liquid, allowing them to flow easily down the pipes with water. The problem is that many foods that should not be in the disposal get trapped in the pipes and begin to solidify. They start to smell soon after and can cause a terrible odor in the kitchen area.
Why Does the Disposal Smell So Bad?
When foods that are recommended enter the disposal, they are chopped into such small pieces they easily flow right out of the home. It is those items that should not be chopped that do not break down small enough, becoming easily trapped to the inner walls of the pipes. There, the food particles simply begin to rot each day, emitting that terrible odor into your home.
What Can a Plumber Do to Fix The Smell?
Your local plumbing professional will open the pipes and scrub clean the interior surface of the pipes with an organic cleaning solution. This solution will remove any rotting food that is causing the smell, and the coating will also act like a barrier for future particles to simply slide right off. The food that is liquified by the garbage disposal will now flow right down the pipes like they were intended to. It is important to have your local plumber do a cleaning at least once a year to keep the pipes clear. This will get rid of that odor coming from the pipes in your kitchen.
What Shouldn’t I Put into my Disposal?
Obviously, bones of any sort should never be placed in the disposal because they can damage the blades and get stuck in pipes where another food particles will be attracted to. Never put oils or grease in your garbage disposal, they will eventually solidify overnight and cause the pipes to clog. Egg shells are very dangerous to the blades of the disposal, the membranes easily attach themselves to the metal and make it hard for the blades to properly chop other foods. Read the owners manual of your garbage disposal, many fruit and vegetable skins are also not recommended in the disposal. Rice and macaroni will continue to expand in the disposal, so throw them in the trash and not down the drain.
If your home is in need of garbage disposal services, call Dalton Plumbing, Heating, & Cooling Inc. at (319) 266-3513 for the best services in the Cedar Falls area.