The garbage disposal

[cowgrrl]

It took me nearly two weeks to determine that the nasty smell in my new apartment was coming from the garbage disposal. First I tried to deodorize it (suggestion found on the internet: 1 part vinegar, 1 part water, freeze into ice cubes. Pour ice cubes down the garbage disposal and let it chomp them up.) Well, the disposal wouldn't chomp the ice, and I had a feeling it wasn't doing well with what little food I'd put down it, so I called the management company and requested repair service.

I came home today to discover I now have a totally new garbage disposal! Wow, what a change from my previous situation. (If there had been a garbage disposal the landlady would have said something like "the disposal is a bit delicate...you need to put food in carefully..." and nevermind the awful smell.)

Now, here's a question for you: I am an ignoramus when it comes to garbage disposals. Do I need to run water when I flip the switch? How much food can it handle? Are there any foods garbage disposals hate?

Comments

[contrarywise]

Congrats on the new disposal! And yay for responsive and responsible property management!

Yes, you need to run water when you turn on the disposal to grind up stuff. I'd put a heaping cup of material in there at a time, or thereabouts, not much more than that. Disposals apparently don't like fruit rinds/skins, stuff with hard seeds, bones, or tougher, think stuff. If you can find the make and model of the disposal on a label on the unit, you can do a Web search on it and maybe turn up a owner's manual or other manufacturer's recommendations.

Good luck!

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

Good idea about the make and model. I'll see if there's any info on the machine.

[ghislaine.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Yay for good landlords.

Do I need to run water when I flip the switch? How much food can it handle? Are there any foods garbage disposals hate?

Yes, you should run water when you flip the switch to make it grind up the stuff.

It can handle probably about 1-2 cups of food at a time. When you notice that water is no longer draining down the disposal, it's definitely time to withhold further food and grind.

Foods that are incompatible with disposals, in general: bones, melon rinds, corn cobs, egg shells, banana peels (some very good disposals are fine with these). Sometimes meat skins if they're rubbery.

You probably know the trick of putting a lemon or an orange down the disposal to make your sink/kitchen smell nice?

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all the info. Very helpful! Yes, either a lemon, or vinegar (like in the tip I tried that didn't work). But does it do lemon peels? (I guess I'll research that.)

[ghislaine.livejournal.com]

Yes, it should do lemon and orange peels. They are pretty thin and soft.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

I put citrus peels down my disposal all the time to make it smell nice AND so the citrus can "clean" the blades. (Hint: whenever you're out at restaurant and they bring you water, ask for lemon in it and take it home, beats buying lemons, they throw away so many perfectly good lemon/lime slices at restaurants. I also grab my friends' lemons/limes. It embarrasses the heck out of Tom, he thinks people think we're too poor to afford to buy lemons we have to take them home! ;-> )

However, I do slice them up small. I keep them in water in the fridge, so they stay soft. OR, you can freeze the cut up ones and then plunk them down with HOT water to soften.

A plumber told me to put baking soda and ice cubes down every month or so to "sharpen" the blades. I'm not sure if he was pulling my leg. I sometimes do it.

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

Ah, so that's why you took all those lemon slices the time we went to Legal Seafood for lunch. :-) I think you're being sensible, reusing lemon/lime slices that would otherwise be thrown away.

I've been drinking water with lemon at home, so I'll save what's left of the lemons to use in the disposal.

[neptunia67.livejournal.com]

Yes, definitely run water when crunching. Also beware of potato peels - they tend to clog the pipes.

I guess I missed something because I thought you bought a place! It sounds like you are renting and have good people managing the property - that is great.

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

I was going to buy but I chickened out. :-) Between the insanely high prices around here, my uncertainty about living alone, and the very limited time I had to look, I finally took the pressure off myself by deciding to rent by myself.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, totally, the previous landlady would have told us to chop food into very little bits before putting it in the disposal and maybe push it down with something, like our hand, to make sure it goes in properly.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Regarding the theme of your post, though, i'd have to say that generally i've had the best rental experiences from professional rental management companies. They tend to be the most professional about it, and they don't take any of it personally.

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

LOL. And that awful smell? "It is normal for the garbage disposal to have a strong odor, especially in the summer!" (I'm glad we didn't have a garbage disposal.)

[rintrahroars.livejournal.com]

Yes, with the need to have water running when using.

However, my builder gave me some great advice regarding garbage disposals: use them infrequently. Sure, it's convenient to let the salad trimmings go down the disposal rather than fish them out of the sink and put them in the trash. Disposals do cut down on landfill waste. And it's much easier, especially for city dwellers, to just dispose of the organic waste through the sewer lines. But disposals can be stinky. And they break. And you always drop coins, jewelry, spoons and such in it. And the waste can back up sewer systems, especially in older homes, apparently.

My plumbing is under a slab, and I'm a homeowner, so I don't use mine very often. Digging up a clogged sewer line could put me in serious debt! The solution, we all know, is to compost your organic waste, make it work for you. It's just... hard. And, errr, stinky *grin*

Good luck! And happy disposing!

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

Given that I just moved into an apartment with no outdoor space whatsoever: no yard, porch, or balcony, I've got nowhere to compost. And my building's management company is insisting we use the garbage disposals. There's a sign in the basement urging us to do so. The garbage cans are in the basement - not outdoors - and it gets really stinky there if people put organic waste in with their trash (which they do anyway, says my nose!)

[cluelessinchi.livejournal.com]

Totally awesome about the new management company! That is awesome!

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

I'll see how they are about other repairs, but so far it looks good!

[cluelessinchi.livejournal.com]

It does show a good example though. It does look good, so far!

[geeklibrarian.livejournal.com]

I didn't see this mentioned yet but no popcorn (popped or unpopped). I've never had problems with lemon/orange rinds. Also, I've lived in this house for over ten years with the same disposal, used a couple of times a week and haven't had any problems with it (no stink, no breakage), but you definitely want to be careful about dropping metal objects in them! :D

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip about the popcorn. :-)

[n2kaja.livejournal.com]

If you put ice in there every now and then it helps keep the blades sharp.
=)

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

And ice with a little vinegar or lemon juice should also keep the disposal-monster's breath fresh! :-)

[gottagetcoffee.livejournal.com]

Bed Bath&Beyond sells this thing called PLINK($4 /10 treatments) It cleans and deodorizer and prevent clogging. I just bought for my disposal so I let you know how well or not it works. I always run water when operating the disposal.

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping occasional use of vinegar and/or lemons (I'm already saving lemon bits in the fridge from when I drink water with a squeeze of lemon) will do the trick, but I'd be curious to know how your thing works. I love Bed Bath&Beyond! :-)

Did you know Denice is on livejournal? She just started a week or so ago... you can find her at denicemarcell.