A garbage disposal is an electric gadget beneath the sink that tatters food waste into small pieces that can easily navigate through the drainage pipes. You can also use a waste disposal unit to refer to the same device. Not only does the garbage disposal unit make your kitchen cleaning more efficient but also environmentally responsible.

Operating the unit is cost effective since it uses a little amount of water and anybody can easily run it. The unit ensures that food scraps reach the water plants where they can be recycled. Moreover, since 70% of waste is usually water, the water plants can reclaim fertilizer and clean water from that waste.

However, you can’t use the garbage disposal unit to process everything. Below are the various ways you can utilize the unit appropriately:

1. Run Disposal Frequently
For any mechanical device with moving things to stay operable, it needs to run as often as possible. You can run your unit on a regular basis even if you don’t grind something up by turning on the water from time to time. Failure to do that may make your unit to corrode, rust or freeze up. Worse still, any leftover foodstuffs may harden leading to clogs and odors.

2. Use Only Cold Water
Remember to run cold water when utilizing your garbage disposal. Although hot water is great for cleaning many things, it is not suitable for cleaning your unit. If you use hot water, the waste you are trying to get rid of may cling to the unit after melting. On the other hand, cold water hardens your waste making it simpler for the unit to grind it up as well as shove it down the drainage pipe.

3. Operate Disposal Longer
Keep the water and your garbage disposal running for a minute after all the waste is ground. This ensures no clogs will form in the drainage pipes since the water will flush all the remaining food scraps. In addition, you can run little dish soap and cold water down the drainage pipe after the units crashes all the waste. Why? It helps clean up the unit properly making sure nothing is left clinging your disposal sides.

4. Cut Waste into Tiny Pieces
Your unit’s motor and blades can’t handle all the sizes of junks you through at it since they are not that strong. Therefore, don’t expect the disposal to work efficiently when you throw to it large chunks of fruits and meat. Just go easy at it by throwing at it a few pieces of the foodstuffs at a time. Else, the unit may jam or clog – or worse, get broken.

5. Crash Citrus Fruit
Usually, cold water and soap can do wonders when cleaning your garbage unit and ensuring that it stays clean. However, there can still be unpleasant odors coming from the unit. To eliminate that smell; you can toss the peel from lime, lemon or orange into the unit occasionally.

What to Avoid
The following are the things you should avoid putting into your garbage disposal:
• Oil or grease – these can solidify inside the unit causing your drainage pipe to clog
• Potato peels – they contain starch that is hard to flush once it clings to sides of the drainage pipe.
• Paper, metal, plastic or glass – they can dull or jam the unit’s blades
• Pits, seeds and big bones – they can dull or jam the unit’s blades or become stuck in the drainage pipe.
• Expandable foodstuffs – foods such as rice and pasta can expand if they mix with water and may cause your garbage disposal to clog.

 

For more information, contact Vinny’s Jersey Plumbing, located in Wayne, New Jersey.  We also service other cities in New Jersey, such as