Tips to Keep Your Garbage Disposal in Proper Shape!

It may be tempting to throw everything in the garbage disposal, but there are a few things you should avoid to keep it in tip-top shape.

Your garbage disposal is a luxury you can’t afford to lose. It’s almost exponentially harder to cook when you have to painstakingly run to the trash to throw out bits and pieces of meat, poultry, or vegetables that you want to discard while cutting them up. It really does interrupt the flow of your cooking. Thus, keeping your garbage disposal healthy will ensure that its maximum longevity is reached.

Bob Villa gives some great tips on how to properly use your garbage disposal such that minimum maintenance will be required in the long run. He warns that you should never grind “fibrous foods like banana skins, broccoli, celery, corn husks and potato peels [which] can tangle and stop the blades of your garbage disposal.” Also, coffee grounds, egg shells, and bones – all are bad for your garbage disposal and can even get stuck in your drain pipes.

If your garbage disposal gives off some bad odors, Bob Villa suggests that you run warm water and toss in some “cut-up lemons.” About once every two months, you should sharpen the blades of your garbage disposal by having it cut up some ice cubes. If you’d like to clean out and sharpen your garbage disposal at the same time – freeze vinegar into ice cubes, fill your garbage disposal with them, and then grind them. The solid cubes will sharpen the blades – and as they melt, the acetic acid in the vinegar will break up any clumps of food particles, as well as sterilize the area. Acetic acid is a natural anti-microbial substance.

If your garbage disposal ever breaks, however, Fred’s Appliance offers its excellent appliance repair service. Contact us today to learn more!