The majority of American households have a garbage disposal, and yet most garbage disposal owners are remarkably unaware that they might be dealing with excess damage to their appliances and their plumbing. If you want to prevent damage to your garbage disposal, you should start by learning the truth about several of the myths that have pervaded their way into common knowledge. Here are four of these myths and the truth about them.
Garbage Disposals Have Blades
Most people think their garbage disposal has several rapidly-spinning blades that eviscerate any food scraps you put down the drain. That’s not entirely accurate. A garbage disposal actually has small impellers that work kind of like a cheese grater to break down organic matter and allow it to pass through your plumbing.
You Can Sharpen Your Disposal
Similar to our previous point, since your disposal doesn’t have blades, you can’t actually really sharpen it at all. A lot of people think putting things like eggshells or ice down the drain and turning on your disposal will help sharpen these blades.
Well the truth is ice doesn’t really do anything, and solid bits of eggshell often get caught on any bits of fat or grease that is stuck in your plumbing, contributing to the buildup that causes clogs.
Garbage Disposals Can Handle Anything
Garbage disposals are only designed to handle certain types of food waste. For starters, anything solid should not be put down the drain (things like eggshells and bones, for example). Not only can they damage your disposal but they’ll probably get stuck in your drains.Furthermore, fibrous or stringy foods should be avoided as they could cause a jam, and fatty or oily foods, like bacon grease, should never be put down the drain as they can solidify and cause clogs.
You Need to Run Hot Water When Using the Disposal
Hot water can cause fats and oils to remain in liquid form, allowing them to easily go down your drain, but this isn’t what you want.
Fats that go down the drain in liquid form can then cool and solidify, forming clogs when they come into contact with the sides of your plumbing. While you should avoid putting fats and oils down the drain at all, using cold water can help ensure any that do make it into your disposal remain solid, allowing them to be ground up, which helps prevent them from adhering to your pipes and causing clogs.Do you need a garbage disposal repair? The Phoenix plumbers at Deer Valley Plumbing Contractors, Inc. can help! Schedule your service today by dialing (623) 294-4986!