Caring for your insinkerator

Whatever you call it, its genius! An insinkerator, a garbage disposal or a waste disposal unit - it is an extremely handy extra to have in your kitchen.  However, unless you know how to use it and what to keep out of it, then it can cause damage to pipes and block easily. 

It goes without saying, things like fruit pipes, non-food items and bones cannot go down the black hole, but did you know egg shells shouldn’t go down their either? The membrane on the inside of an egg shell can wrap around the blades and make them blunt.  It’s best to put some vegetables and their peelings in the rubbish bin – particularly vegetables that are stringy. Those like rhubarb, asparagus, celery and onions.  Ensure to keep these things well clear of your insinkerator.  Large amounts of pasta and rice can expand with the water and can clog the drain also. A small amount of food scraps from a dinner plate is fine, but don’t put the left over bowl of pasta you found at the back of the fridge in the waste disposal.  It will eventually cause a problem.

In order to get the most out of your insinkerator, you need to make sure you follow these two rules:

• Feed it like yourself: Don’t throw all the scraps down at once, push a small amount through and let it process that before putting more down there. Whacking a whole heap down at once may cause the blades to become stuck and trying to then clear it can be a pretty awful (and pretty dangerous) task.
  

• Water it as you feed it: Ensure a large amount of cold running water is going down the drain while operating and keep the water running for several seconds once turned off.
  

• They can eventually begin to smell, even more so if the food isn’t processed & flushed down the drain instantly. Easily solved though! Take a lemon & quarter it. Place a heaped tablespoon of baking soda down there, add the 4 pieces of lemon, run the cold water & turn it on. An instantly clean garbage disposal!
  

• If your insinkerator does become clogged and you are having problems with it, give us a call at Maxey Plumbing & Gas. We can often clear and unblock insinkerators and if not, we are happy to recommend models and install a new one for you. 
  

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