Chances are, your garbage disposal endures quite a bit. Like any other fixture in your home that you will ever use, you need to put some focus on the regular maintenance and care for your garbage disposal. Otherwise, as it goes with most things, it can fall into disrepair, break, clog or malfunction in another way – leaving you without this handy appliance and possibly some other problems. The best thing that you can do to ensure the ongoing use of your disposal is to avoid clogs in the first place and pay attention to any signs that some maintenance is needed.

Be Mindful of What You Put into Your Garbage Disposal

While your garbage disposal will be able to handle quite a bit of work, there are still plenty of items that should never be ground down with this tool. Remember that the disposal is not separate from your plumbing system and can lead to clogs and other problems for your kitchen sink.

Don’t Put These Items in Your Disposal

To avoid clogs and breakage, never put the following items into your garbage disposal:

• Non-food items of any kind. Before using the disposal, check to see that no forks or other small, non-food objects have fallen inside. It’s not at all uncommon for jewelry and other small trinkets to fall in.
• Grease and oil.
• Pasta, rice, potato skins, and banana peels. All four of these items are especially prone to causing clogs in your garbage disposal.
• Coffee grounds. They get caught in the drain trap.
• Fruit pits, seeds, and cores. These objects are too dense and solid to be broken down by your disposal.
• Eggshells and bones.

These Items are Safe for Your Disposal

Here is a list of items that can safely go down the garbage disposal:

• Cold water and ice. In fact, you should run cold water down the disposal for 20-30 seconds when using the disposal to ensure that everything gets flushed down.
• Liquids, soft foods, and foods that have been finely chopped prior to going down the garbage disposal.
• Dish soap. It is perfectly okay to let dish soap go down the disposal, as it will help keep the appliance clean.

What Happens if Something Happens Anyway?

If, despite your very best efforts to care for and maintain your garbage disposal you still experience a breakage or clog, do not try to fix the problem yourself. Sometimes, things fall down the drain that we don’t notice, or children decide to see what can be ground up in the sink. No matter what’s happened to bring your garbage disposal to a stand-still, you should recruit the help of a professional plumber to remedy the issue and identify the source of the problem.

The professionals at Ridgeway Mechanical have the tools and experience to repair any garbage disposal calamity swiftly and efficiently. Do not try to do it yourself, as even the slightest mistake or unexpected complication could turn this seemingly simple job into a more complicated and expensive project.