Garbage Disposals

[elgerber]

We did put too many potato peelings down the disposal at my aunt's house one Christmas and it created a horrible mess. Since then, I never put potato down it.

.

My sister in law did this one year on Thanksgiving. She ended up paying my hubby, her brother, $100 for the hour he spent unclogging it before we ate dinner! It was sooooooooooooo nasty. He will NEVER let me put peels in our disposal.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I've always had one. I had to live without one for a couple of months when we were redoing our kitchen. I got so grossed out scraping food into the trash. I was most excited for the return of the disposal!! I am in Indiana, but my parents have one in Florida.

I put almost everything down mine. I put potato peels, but I grind them up a few at a time. I also do egg shells. The only time I ever clogged it was with butternut squash peel, so I don't do that anymore.

 

[tlbwriter]

Wow, I put potato peels down mine all the time, and they've never caused a problem. Eggshells too. The instructions first one that came with our house only said not to put dense, fibrous things like corncobs down the disposal. It died 11 years later, and the new one is picker. It can't handle raw chicken, which drives me crazy!

 

[perdidochas]

So all the time when I read magazines, or see those household tips segments on tv I hear all these tips for cleaning out your garbage disposal and removing the odor from it - then the though occurred to me - I don't know anyone with a garbage disposal! I was talking to my aunt about this yesterday and we both don't know anyone with one. So I figured it must be a regional thing - we're from Long Island, almost all of my family and friends live here or also in the Northeast, and no one has a garbage disposal. There must be some people out there in this world that have them, or else they wouldn't keep giving you tips for cleaning them!

So....what do you put down them? Where does it all go?!


So all you people out there with garbage disposals - where do you live? Do you use it all the time? Do most people around you also have one? Or are all those magazine writers and tv segment people just giving out garbage disposal cleaning tips to no one?

(I'm off all week and already very bored...can ya tell? )

I have a disposal. Can't recall the last time I didn't have one. It goes to the sewere (along with the rest of the waste water). I don't clean it--no real need, IMHO, they are self cleaning. Grinding citrus peels do make them smell better (not that they normally smell bad).

 

[fraggle551]

I've always had one. I had to live without one for a couple of months when we were redoing our kitchen. I got so grossed out scraping food into the trash. I was most excited for the return of the disposal!! I am in Indiana, but my parents have one in Florida.

I put almost everything down mine. I put potato peels, but I grind them up a few at a time. I also do egg shells. The only time I ever clogged it was with butternut squash peel, so I don't do that anymore.

See, and it would gross me out to put scraps in the sink! I HATE when any food scraps get in the sink, it grosses me out. Scraping plates in the trash after dinner is second nature to me. Well I certainly learned something new today!

 

[tzolkin]

We have a septic tank and no garbage disposal.

For some reason the idea of dumping trash/food down the drain just seems odd to me. It would be convenient to rinse off plates into the sink, but I think even if I had one I would have a hard time putting stuff in there instead of the trash.



I also have a strong fear of someone getting their hand mangled in one. Any time someone is using a sink with a garbage disposal, I have anxiety and visions of this. I know it's fairly irrational, but I can't help it.

 

[SandrA9810]

We had one growing up, but it was almost never used. All scraps from the plate went in the garbage. If the drain didn't go down fast, then it got turned on for a few seconds. I still don't use it a lot now either. Mostly if I have a bowl of cereal, I'll turn it on to send down the little bits I don't eat. I usually throw a lemon down every so often to help keep the smell out.

When my aunt moved into her new house, the disposal had to be replaced. The plumber guy that came out, told me to put about 1/2 a bag of ice down the disposal to help clean it and sharpen the blades. When he did it, before replacing it, there was a bunch of nasty brown smelly stuff that came back up before going down again.

Most people seem to see it as a second garbage can, and it's really not that. Plus it stinks up so easily.

 

[Kae]

I have never not had one. The only thing I don't put down it is bones, celery, corn cobs & onion peels.

Kae

 

[K and K's Mommy]

Most people seem to see it as a second garbage can, and it's really not that. Plus it stinks up so easily.

I've read how to clean them, but in almost 40 years of life, I can't ever remember one smelling. I'm wondering if people don't let it run long enough and flush it with water. I remember learning to let it run a few seconds after you think everything is gone and keep the water running. Knock on wood, mine will probably stink tomorrow!

 

[Lassie Lynne]

Running a lot of water helps with the smell, I rarely have problem unless it is a more smelly food (spaghetti with garlic). I also use the lemon method, but if I need it smelling better quickly and have no lemon - good ole' baking soda does the trick too.

 

[allison443]

I grew up in NYC and we never had one...in fact I think they might not have been allowed. (OK I looked it up, they were outlawed in NYC until 1997).

In NJ it apparently varies by town. I only know two people (in two other towns, not mine) who had them.