Most people rarely think about their garbage disposal unless they lose something in it, and many people don’t think twice about its condition until it breaks. Because this doesn’t happen often, homeowners are often surprised when they learn that what they believed to be common knowledge when it comes to garbage disposals is actually a completely untrue myth. Here are four common myths that many people don’t realize are completely false.
Garbage Disposals Don’t Have Blades
The loud noises coming from your garbage disposal is not a series of sharp blades hacking food into tiny bits. In reality, garbage disposals use shredding teeth, which are either plastic or metal circles that contain a row of sharp metal rectangles. Food and other material is thrown into them when the teeth spin and is quickly decimated into small, easily disposed bits.
You Can’t Sharpen Your Blades
Again, garbage disposals don’t have blades, so logically you can’t sharpen them. This means the common practices of throwing ice into the disposal is more or less useless and ineffective. What you can do to improve your disposal’s condition, however, is clean it. Use baking soda, vinegar, rock salt, and lemon will help eliminate odors and loosen any food or grime that has built up in your unit.
You Can Throw Nearly Anything in There
Many people become complacent with just scraping leftover meal scraps down the drain rather than take them to the trash can, especially when dishes are already in the sink. However, your garbage disposal may not be robust enough to handle the pieces you are feeding into it. A good rule to follow: if you can’t chew it, neither can your unit. Think twice before putting things like eggshells, small bones, and other solid scraps down there: you’re probably ruining your system entirely.
Running Hot Water Prevents Clogs
People often think there’s no problem with putting grease or oil down your garbage disposal so long as you run hot water with it to keep it melted. In reality, water and oil don’t mix so the oil is probably sticking pretty heavily to your shredding teeth, leaving a nasty film that can clog and seize them. Oil can also lead to clogs and blockages in your plumbing, so the best practice is to let oil reach room temperature and empty it into the trash.
If your garbage disposal is having trouble or stops working, call Summers™ Plumbing Heating & Cooling for help. Since 1969, our fully-trained and licensed Indiana plumbers have provided high-quality repairs and services for all your sink and garbage disposal issues. Whether you are dealing with a seized disposal and need a full replacement or have a clog in your pipes, our technicians use all of the latest techniques and technologies to identify your issue and resolve it quickly. We are fully dedicated to your complete satisfaction, and we guarantee your satisfaction with some of the strongest warranties in the industry. We also offer 24/7 emergency services to fix your issue in the event of a sudden issue like a broken pipe or serious leak.
Call Summers™ Plumbing Heating & Cooling today and schedule your service appointment!
