10 Things You Should Never Put Down Your Garbage Disposal
Your garbage disposal is one of the hardest-working appliances in your kitchen, but it isn't a magical trash can. While it’s designed to grind up light food scraps, many common household items can cause serious plumbing disasters. From jammed impellers to stubborn pipe clogs and expensive motor burnouts, knowing what to keep out of your sink is the key to a long-lasting appliance.
To help you avoid a messy kitchen backup and the cost of an emergency plumber, here are the top 10 items you should never put down your garbage disposal.
1. Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG)
This is the golden rule of kitchen plumbing. While grease might be liquid when it’s hot in the pan, it cools down rapidly once it hits your pipes. As it solidifies, it creates a thick, waxy buildup that traps other food particles, eventually causing a total blockage. Instead of the drain, pour excess grease into a disposable container and toss it in the trash.
2. Coffee Grounds
It’s a common myth that coffee grounds deodorize your pipes. In reality, they are one of the most frequent causes of kitchen clogs. When wet, coffee grounds become a dense, pasty sludge that settles in the U-bend of your plumbing. Over time, this "mud" creates a barrier that prevents water from flowing through.
3. Pasta, Rice, and Bread
Think about what happens to pasta or rice when you boil it: it expands. Even after being ground into small bits by the disposal, these starchy foods continue to absorb water and swell inside your pipes. This creates a sticky mass that can easily jam the motor or stop up the drain line.
4. Stringy and Fibrous Vegetables
Vegetables like celery, corn husks, asparagus, and artichokes have long, tough fibers. These strings can act like hair in a shower drain, wrapping themselves around the disposal’s moving parts and the motor shaft. This can cause the unit to jam or eventually wear out the seals and bearings.
5. Eggshells
There is an old wives' tale that eggshells sharpen the blades of a disposal. In truth, disposals don't even have blades—they have blunt impellers. The thin membrane on the inside of an eggshell can wrap around the grinding components, and the tiny "sand-like" particles of the shell can stick to greasy pipes, contributing to heavy clogs.
6. Fruit Pits and Seeds
If you can’t bite through it with your teeth, your disposal probably shouldn't try to grind it either. Pits from peaches, plums, or cherries are incredibly hard and can damage the grinding ring or shatter the internal components. Similarly, unpopped popcorn kernels and small, hard seeds should always go into the compost or trash.
7. Potato Peels
While a few small scraps might not hurt, a large amount of potato peels is a recipe for disaster. The high starch content turns the peels into a thick paste (similar to mashed potatoes) that can coat the inside of the grinding chamber and the discharge pipe, leading to a very slow-draining sink.
8. Bones
Small, soft bones (like those from fish) might pass through some heavy-duty disposals, but generally, bones are a "no-go." Large beef, pork, or chicken bones will simply spin around the chamber, making a deafening noise and potentially breaking the flywheel or the motor.
9. Nuts and Shells
Think of your garbage disposal like a blender. If you put a bunch of peanuts into a blender with a little liquid, you get peanut butter. The same thing happens in your drain. Hard shells from walnuts or sunflower seeds are also too tough to be properly pulverized and can get stuck in the plumbing.
10. Non-Food Items
It may seem obvious, but twist ties, rubber bands, cigarette butts, and paper towels frequently find their way into disposals. These items do not break down and will almost certainly cause a mechanical failure or a major blockage in your home's main sewer line.
How to Fix a Mistake
If you accidentally dropped something on this list down the drain, stop immediately. Turn off the power at the wall and the circuit breaker. Use tongs or pliers to retrieve the item—never use your hands. If the unit is humming but not spinning, you may need to use a hex wrench on the bottom of the unit to manually clear the jam.
Best Practices for a Clean Drain
To keep your unit running smoothly, always use a strong flow of cold water whenever the disposal is on. This helps flush the ground-up particles all the way through the pipes. Every few weeks, grind a few ice cubes and some lemon peels to help scour the internal components and keep the sink smelling fresh.
Proper care and a little bit of caution will save you from the stress of a broken disposal and keep your kitchen plumbing in peak condition for years to come.
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