Should you use cold or hot water in your Garbage Disposal is a pretty common question. So, what will it be? Hot or Cold? I believe that our goal is the same when we ask this question. We want to prolong the life of our garbage disposal. They are great to have, and you want them working for time to come. So, what is the best way to do that? I have some answers.
What Are the Major “Do Not’s” with a Garbage Disposal?
There are a lot of things you can do with a garbage disposal that will not cause any harm, but then there are other things should never do. To make it simple, my friends at Southside Plumbing and Gas, a Rockingham Plumber in Austrailia helped me make a list of some things to avoid doing when it comes to the garbage disposal, and yes, it will let you know when and what temperatures of water are best.
- Do NOT use hot water when you are grinding the food. This can melt things onto the blade or even mess the motor up. Only cold water for washing the food down when the disposal is on!
- Do NOT use cleaning solutions that are not made for garbage disposals. Some cleaning supplies are too harsh and can damage your disposals system. I will list some cleaning tips below.
- Do NOT wash fat or grease down the garbage disposal. This will surely clog it up. Just like you’re not supposed to run hot water, the grease will crystalize. It happens to septic’s all the time even when people run hot water. There is no amount of soap you can use to rinse grease down it.
- Do NOT place large clumps of food or peeling from vegetables or fruits. You can slowly add them in the grinder but never place them in it all at once. This can cause it to freeze up.
Things That are Safe for Your Garbage Disposal.
Now that we have all the “Do not’s” out the way, we can get onto some things that are ok to do. This is great because all those times your spouse or roommate told you something was bad for the garbage disposal, you can see here if it was ok for it. Or you could be the one wrong. All in all, here they are. Plus, they are good to know…
- Use cold or mildly cold water to flush the disposal. You can start by running the water first and have it continue running until at least 15 to 30 seconds after the grinding noise has stopped. This helps to flush the disposal and drain of any debris or food particles.
- Randomly grind up lemon peels. This sanitizes the drain and freshens it all while keeping the blade in good shape.
- Check into a degreaser for your drain to randomly use to keep it flowing in good shape.
- Make sure to use it regularly.
- Use chemicals and cleaning solutions that are designed for your garbage disposal.
- Regular cleanings every two years are a good thing to do. You can make sure that it is still working good and identify any issues that may become issues or noticeable before you are left waiting on a plumber with a stinky sink.
What Cleaning Supplies Should You Use?
The cleaning solution you choose to use on your garbage disposal means a lot. The cleaning solution should be safe for your disposal. You do not want something that can potentially cause damage or wear the machine out over time. I have a cleaning recipe for your garbage disposal.
- Take a cup or so of baking soda and sprinkle it into your sink with the water OFF. This will remove any smells and shine things up a bit. In this case, it will help release any clogs that may be down in the disposal.
- Take some vinegar, about a cup, and pour it down the drain. The fizz will make a loud noise. Some of the fizz may come back up the sink. No worries, it will go back down.
- Wait for about ten minutes and then you can run some warm water down the drain.
- After you have done those steps, you can take some lemon that has been cut and put it down the drain. Run some cold water with it. Some recommend putting ice in it when you do this, I don’t always do that. This leaves the drain clean and fresh. The lemons add good bacteria that help eliminate bad bacteria. This good since you just stripped it with the baking soda and vinegar.
Some Last Things Before You Go.
Now that we went over it, hot water is good for times while cold water should be used when it is running. Some resourceful sites are;
- Apartment Therapy on cleaning your disposal.
- David Leroy’s Plumbing do’s and don’ts.
- How Stuff Works is great on knowing the ins and outs of a garbage disposal