How to Extend the Life of Your Garbage Disposal

05/25/2015

A garbage disposal is a great way to make your kitchen activities more convenient. At times, it may even seem like there’s nothing your garbage disposal can’t handle. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. There are a number of common behaviors that are actually extremely damaging to garbage disposals. The only thing that makes these damaging behaviors so common is that many homeowners aren’t even aware that they are harming their garbage disposals. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how you can extend the life of your garbage disposal.

No Fibrous Materials

The garbage disposal is not meant to handle certain kinds of food waste. Onion skins, potato skins, and celery are just a few of the fibrous foods that you should never put down the garbage disposal. The fibers from these foods have a tendency to tangle the disposal impellers, causing them to jam up. If you want to avoid unnecessary garbage disposal repairs, avoid placing fibrous material down in it.

No FOG

FOG stands for Fats, Oils, and Grease. These materials are often poured down the garbage disposal after being used in cooking. Though they may be liquid at first, FOG will eventually congeal into a semi-solid sludge. This often blocks up the waste line from the garbage disposal to the sewers, which will cause it to back up and require professional cleaning.

No Hard Objects

This means no bones, ice, fruit pits, or any other hard object that could otherwise just be thrown away. Trying to grind harder materials like these often breaks the impeller, either by breaking off pieces of it or causing the motor to burn out. Never put really hard objects down the garbage disposal, unless you want to break it.

If you’d like to know more about how to maintain your garbage disposal, call Rooter Man. We provide garbage disposal services throughout Albany, NY.