how can i clean my garbage disposal?

melsie

any EF ideas on how to get the kitchen sink monster clean? i've tried egg shells, coffee grounds, full sink of hot soapy water... our friend who sells them says to just go buy those stupid lemon balls specifically made for the disposal... but i really doubt they are EF.

BTW: it doesn't smell, it just runs slow so i have to run it almost every time i do dishes even if nothing has fallen in there...

TIA 

pixieprincss

-ice

-orarge or lemon peel

I wonder if the problem isn't the disposal, but the piping under it.

Do you actually put food in your disposal or just use it to take care of the things than accidentaly fall in there? Many people misuse their disposal and use it for disposing of food, when really it is for dealing with the errant bits. Even if you don't do this, a previous owner might have- and that started the blocking process- or if they put grease down the sink.

LittleFuller

You may want to try putting vinegar & baking soda down it.  It sounds like a clog, and not really something a lemon would fix.  I would put the mix down it and let it foam up for a few minutes before I rinsed with really hot water.

jen5-03

Ice and lemon peels. Our disposal is only a couple years old and the instructions that came with it said to fill the disposal and the sink with ice, turn on the cold water, and let it run until all the ice was gone. It's a lot longer than I would normall run a disposal. I empty my entire icemaker's worth of ice in there. Throwing in some lemon peels will also help it smell good, but the ice should take care of any debris that is trapped in there.

 ** edited to add** I'm not sure I would try this much ice with an older disposal!

Of course, if it gets slow even when nothing has been put down there, you might have a clog in the drain and the vibration of running the disposal is just helping the water get through.

Oh, and if you have a dishwasher, you need to run the disposal after you run the dishwasher because it is depositing particles of food into the disposal as it drains. That might be how it seems like there's food down there even when you haven't put anything down.

renee143

vinegar and baking soda for clogs, ice for build up on blades, then a whole lemon cut in chunks to freshen

hollybabe

I second  the ice to clean the gunk off the blades.  I read in hints from heloise to use ice sprinkled with a little powdered detergent.  The detergent helps the smell.

AnnaBananaBelle

Ice cubes and lemon peel