Everything You Need to Know About Garbage Disposals

Today, garbage disposals are commonly found in most kitchen and often bar area sinks, allowing homeowners to dispose of food scraps and to help prevent clogged sinks quickly. However, it can be frustrating when the disposal stops working properly. Our team will help you to understand more about disposals and offer some tips to avoid foul smells and clogs. 

Understanding Garbage Disposals

Garbage disposal parts consist of a motor, grinding chamber, and rotating blades or impellers. 

Disposals are designed to shred food waste into small pieces so food can easily pass through your home’s plumbing system. Disposals are typically installed underneath your sink and are connected to your sink’s drain pipe and eventually down the sewer drain lines.

When food waste is fed into the disposal unit and is turned on, the motor drives the blades or impellers to shred the food waste into fine particles. The particles are then flushed down the drain as you run water. Homeowners should make sure that there is a good stream of water anytime the disposal is activated.  The clear water helps to keep the disposer and drain lines clean.

Garbage disposals can be used to dispose of a variety of soft food scraps, including fruit and vegetable peels and leftover food scraps. 

Foods to avoid: 

• Bones
• Onion skins
• Corn husks
• Eggshells
• Grease

Benefits of Garbage Disposals

Garbage disposals offer many benefits for your household and reduce landfill waste for the environment. We encourage you to see for yourself how a garbage disposal is an excellent addition to your kitchen or bar sink. 

Environmental Impact Reduction

Garbage disposals can help reduce the amount of garbage put in our landfills each year. By using your kitchen garbage disposal, you can decrease methane emissions that occur as food breaks down in the landfill. 

Convenient Kitchen Cleanup 

With a garbage disposal in your kitchen, it’s easier to dispose of food scraps quickly.  Keeps your dishwasher cleaner and your overall kitchen cleaner with fewer materials going into your garbage for disposal. 

Prevent Foul Odors

If your garbage disposal is functioning properly, it can help to prevent the buildup of food residue in your kitchen sink drains as well as your garbage can. Running your garbage disposal when you are cleaning off plates can help to break down food and easily send it down the drain, reducing the likelihood of unpleasant odors. 

After heavy use or at least monthly we often recommend a good clean flush of the disposer.  If you have a single or double bowl, fill either the single bowl or both bowls with clear, warm water.  Once the bowl or bowls are filled, use a good squirt of dish soap, pull the drains at the same time, and activate the disposer.  Keep the disposer running until the sinks are drained.  This will help clear and keep the disposer clean, as well as the drain lines.

Improve Plumbing Longevity

By breaking down food into smaller pieces, you can prevent clogs in your plumbing system. Minimizing clogs and buildup can help extend the life of your pipes and reduce the need for costly repairs and pipe replacements. 

Garbage Disposal Odor

If you have a garbage disposal and you’re noticing a weird smell, you’re not alone. Many homeowners in the Fox Cities contact us wondering why their garbage disposal smells bad. Let’s look at some of the most common causes of garbage disposal odors — and what to do about them. 

Rotten or Dirty Smell 

Although garbage disposals are designed to break down food and guide it through your drain, food residue can still build up in your sink and grow bacteria, a leading cause of kitchen sink drain odor. 

Regular cleaning and maintenance are crucial to combat drain odor. An effective method is to grind citrus peels or ice cubes in the disposal to help dislodge debris and neutralize odors. Additionally, pouring a mixture of baking soda and vinegar down the drain can help break down organic matter and eliminate foul odors. 

Avoiding putting strong-smelling foods down the drain and running hot water can prevent odors from occurring in the first place. 

For persistent odors or burning smells, commercial garbage disposals or deodorizers are available, which can help eliminate stubborn smells, leaving behind a fresh scent. These deodorizers include dissolving tablets or pods that break apart when you run your disposal. 

Burning Smell

Garbage disposal burning smells can also occur, which can be related to a few factors, including the grinding of hard or fibrous materials such as bones, fruit pits, or tough vegetable peels, which can strain the motor and cause it to overheat. 

Other potential causes of this burning smell are a lack of lubrication in the disposal’s motor or bearings; even clogging can lead to friction and overheating. 

Avoid putting hard items like bones down the disposal to begin with — and don’t turn it on if one falls down there accidentally. 

If you’re consistently getting a burning smell, you may need to try lubricating the gears or replacing the worn-out disposal system. Contact our team or a plumbing professional in your area for help with this process. 

Nothing Happens When the Switch is Activated

This usually means that the disposer motor went out on thermal overload.  The thermal overload is meant to protect the motor of the disposer when it is working too hard.  There is usually a button on the bottom of the disposer to reset the thermal overload.

Contact the Watters Plumbing Professionals

If you’ve tried all of the above techniques and your garbage disposal still has a strong odor or is clogged, contact the Fox Cities plumbing technicians at Watters Plumbing today. We can help you determine the source of the problem, helping to rid your kitchen sink of odors while also helping you prevent clogged drains. 

Contact us to get a quote for your sink!