The garbage disposal in your kitchen is a handy appliance, but did you know that putting certain food scraps and other waste in the disposal can actually cause it to wear down faster? At My Newbury Park Plumber Hero, we answer telephone calls from concerned homeowners every day who have disposals that have suddenly stopped working. If you have a disposal in your kitchen, keep reading for useful tips and ways to use your disposal to avoid major repairs.

Tip#1 – Keep Fibrous Foods Away from Your Disposal

Examples of fibrous food include onion skins, celery stalks, corn husks, lettuce, asparagus, and potato peels. These kinds of food are stringy and can easily wrap around the blades of the disposal, making it impossible for the appliance to operate properly. We recommend putting these foods in the trash can or in a composter bin. However, if you feel you must disposal of fibrous material in the disposal, do so in small quantities to reduce the risk.

Tip#2 – Do Not Grind Up Greasy Foods

Most everyone knows they should not pour grease or cooking oil down the disposal, but this includes greasy, leftover foods too. It doesn’t take much grease to clog your drain pipe. Even small quantities of fat or grease that are on a small piece of meat or leftover in a pan can harden in the disposal or in your pipes and prevent the flow of water.

Tip #3 – Throw Away Expandable Food Items

These are foods like pasta and rice that expand as they come in contact with water. Even the tiniest bits of these foods will begin to distend when in a small amount of water, causing annoying clogs that will need professional drain cleaning to get rid of.

Tip #4 – Use Common Sense

A garbage disposal is intended to dispose of biodegradable, food waste only. Never put metal, glass, or plastic objects in a kitchen sink disposal. These types of items cannot be grinded up small enough to be adequately washed down the drain.

Tip #5 – Keep a Trash Can Handy

Most of the time the wrong foods or objects end up in a disposal because a person doesn’t want to take the time to walk across the room to throw away scraps or trash; don’t let laziness be the reason your disposal breaks. Instead, keep a trash can under your sink for easy access or use a bowl to collect trash while cooking for easy disposal later.

Even with the best care and usage, garbage disposals will break down from time to time. If you find yourself in need of plumbing service, give us a call for affordable garbage disposal repair or replacement service in Newbury Park, CA.