Home Maintenance Tip: How To Care For Your Garbage Disposal

For Christmas one year, Paul bought me a French press coffee maker. I started drinking coffee again a few years ago (in an attempt to kick my Diet Coke habit!). And while I love the ease and convenience of my Keurig, French pressed coffee is just so delicious. It takes a few more minutes of prep and clean-up, but on the weekends, it is totally worth it.

I was cleaning my press recently and something occurred to me. Should I be putting these coffee grounds down my garbage disposal?

The answer is NO! While they may seem to go down easily, they can build up in your pipes and cause a problem. It got me thinking, what other things am I putting down my garbage disposal that could cause a plumbing problem?

There are the obvious things you should never put down a garbage disposal – bones, plastic (duh), fruit pits, and cooking grease – but I found some other no no’s in my research that were a bit of a surprise…

Celery – the fibrous strings in celery can get spun around the blades. You should also avoid asparagus and corn husks for the same reason.

Potato Peels – starchy foods like potatoes can get mucky over time and cause an issue. Other starches like pasta can do the same thing. Who knew?

Egg Shells – what? This is new to me – while the shells may help to sharpen the blades, the sticky membranes can get stuck to the sides of the disposal (I sense a smell coming on).

Other tips for your garbage disposal…

Use cold water instead of hot (I’ve always used hot!) because hot water can melt foods you’re trying to break up and get rid of.

Run the disposal regularly even if you don’t need to. This can prevent the blades from rusting and old food from getting stuck.

Grind cut up citrus peels in your garbage disposal on a regular basis to clean the blades and freshen up any lingering odors.

Good golly – I didn’t realize I was treating my garbage disposal so poorly!

Dream. Build. Live.