Comments on: how do I clean my garbage disposal?

Question: how do I clean my garbage disposal?

indigo4963 — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:59:43 -0800

My "garbage disposal" is all gunked up. How do I clean it?

By: Devidicus

Devidicus — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:03:44 -0800

Depends on brand, but there may be a hex-wrench type deal on the underside. Get a hex wrench that will fit it and work the gears/grinders back and forth until the jam clears. Works on mine.

By: contessa

contessa — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:05:10 -0800

See also here and here.

Unless "garbage disposal" is a euphemism for something else, that is.

By: wfc123

wfc123 — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:06:40 -0800

Whaddya got? A Clarkman?

It's a big job. You've got to dismantle the latch hasp from the auxiliary drainage line.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:08:19 -0800

I would think a gel drain cleaner would help a lot.

By: zeoslap

zeoslap — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:08:59 -0800

Drop a lemon in it

By: jamaro

jamaro — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:11:29 -0800

My garbage disposal's manual advised grinding up some ice cubes (to knock the crud off the blades) followed by a baking baking soda + vinegar soak and topping off with grinding up a lemon.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:18:41 -0800

Echoing jamaro and zeoslap: Ice cubes and lemons. And not just a few cubes and a tiny slice of lemon. Bowls of cubes and at least a whole lemon (cut into 1/2 to avoid it bouncing around like a racketball).

They also make this stuff in a can that you spray in and it foams up and expands and fills the entire chamber. You should be able to find it near the dishwashing soap at the store.

By: bob sarabia

bob sarabia — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:20:07 -0800

Yup. Ice and lemon.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:46:40 -0800

Baking soda and vinegar? Are you sure? That's like Mentos and Coke.

By: Lyn Never

Lyn Never — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:15:19 -0800

Baking soda and vinegar isn't that dramatic; it's a very safe household cleaner and pretty good for disposals. Nothing is as satisfying as ice and lemons, though.

By: jamaro

jamaro — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 16:12:05 -0800

Re vinegar + baking soda: yes, quite sure. (What, you skipped school the day everyone makes a volcano?)

By: wsg

wsg — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 01:37:42 -0800

YES. Ice, baking soda and lemon. But, DO NOT cram the disposal full of ice (as I did) and then turn it on. This will cause the disposal to lock up as soon as you turn it on and burn up the motor in a matter of seconds. Then you have to buy a new disposal (as I did). For best results, turn the disposal on and only then add the ice a couple of cubes at a time. Keep going till you think it's had a good dose.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 06:46:35 -0800

We didn't do food volcanoes at my school. We were using vinegar and baking soda to launch rockets.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:35:56 -0800

wsg: Thanks for mentioning that. As a good practice, you should always have the disposal running (with water running) anytime you start dumping anything down your sink. We don't all do it everytime, but it is much easier on the disposal to already be up to speed when it encounters, say, several ice cubes and 1/2 a lemon. :-)

By: indigo4963

indigo4963 — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:52:57 -0800

Thanks for all the suggestions. Perhaps "garbage disposal" is a euphemism for something else.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:22:36 -0800

Perhaps "garbage disposal" is a euphemism for something else.

I'd still recommend ice cubes and lemons, just perhaps administered differently.

By: catkins

catkins — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 08:19:44 -0800

On the "my disposal is broken" front -- if you have a "dead" disposal, check for a circuit breaker on the disposal's motor.

They sometimes look like a little "turkey's done" popper -- push it back in (after clearing out whatever caused it to sieze up and take a nap) and presto, it's working.