<p>My big mistake when getting used to my first disposal was an over abundance of potato peels - never again! </p>
<p>I also like to put clementine peels or smaller amounts of other citrus peels (lime, lemon, a little orange) down to freshen it up. Or I will pour an older box of baking soda in the drain with 1/2 c of vinegar - let it bubble up and sit for a few mi uses then flush with cool water.</p>
<p>Also, egg shells are fine. That was one thing I wasn’t sure about…</p>
<p>Try to keep the silverware from falling in. That is a bad thing.</p>
<p>We havent had much trouble with clogging it up, but as other said, run the water for a while after you finish running the disposal, to wash the stuff down the pipes.
Don’t put pits or shells in there. We havent had issues with potato peels when skinning them to peel the potato, but agreed - dont put harder outsides of potatoes like from sweet potatoes or idahos, especially after baking them.</p>
<p>We put fruit pits down our disposal. We were actually told to do so as its good for the blades.</p>
<p>No nutshells…I forgot that one!</p>
<p>clogged ours with apple peels. Any peels are a big no-no. Plumber also said to put ice cubes and comet down disposal a few times a year.</p>
<p>Not using disposal much anymore, since we now have weekly compost pick up along with our trash. I didn’t like at first, but now that we’re used to it, very natural for us–and I feel good about not sending so much water down the drain…</p>
<p>I have never actually had a garbage disposal, ( or a built in dishwasher), and I expect that is perhaps a good thing!
We also have a compost pile as well as yard waste pickup for extras, so that’s one less thing to have to deal with.</p>
<p>Interesting about the notion that chopping up hard things like shells and pits would be good for the blades. Ours occsaionally gets stuck-- so dont do that with ours.</p>
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<p>I can’t help you. We got rid of ours and have a compost pile instead. Sad to say, our drains misbehave regularly anyway.</p>
<p>We put very little down our garbage disposal, really only soft stuff. It is weak, and not worth the effort of it getting clogged up.</p>
<p>What I would do it I were you, is reach in there and pull out whatever is clogging it up. Hate doing that though, always envision those blades somehow turning on.
Then running a bunch of water through it, with it on, to get rid of the rest.</p>
<p>Know that when it just stops turning, and you get the electric sound but no movement…under the sink, on the disposal unit, there is generally a button you can push on it to reset it. And if that doesn’t work, there is also a small wrench for underneath the disposal unit that you can turn to reset it also.</p>
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That’s what I did - I installed the most powerful Insinkerator that was for sale at Home Depot at the time. It’s one with a stainless steel interior for non-corrosion. This things will gobble down anything put in it. It’s never jammed or had any issues. I’ve had it for a number of years now and it’s still doing fine. the more powerful ones, like the one I have, are bigger so before getting one make sure your under-sink cabinet has room for it.</p>
<p>As far as what not to put down, it really comes down to what not to put down your drains which is really anything that’s real fibrous since fibrous things can clog the drain.</p>
<p>I’ve clogged the pipes twice–once with potato peelings, once with onion skins. I haven’t tried artichoke leaves…</p>
<p>Agree with the others - don’t put lots of potato peels (or any other peels) in your disposal.</p>
<p>About once a month fill up the disposal with a few large handfuls of ice cubes and dump about 1/3 of a box of baking soda on it. Turn on the water and the disposal for a minute. Helps to keep the disposal clean and fresh!</p>
<p>I’m with EK on this issue. When you redo the kitchen - just do not install one and see if you can live without it. Especially if you are on a septic, it saves a lot of hassle, since houses without a garbage disposal do not need annual septic monitoring, only once in 3 years. I cook pretty much all meals at home, and I get by without a garbage disposal just fine. At first I almost threw a fit when the builder did not put one in (just wired for it), but he convinced me to give it a try. Turns out, I do not need one! They are noisy and, as you discovered, can clog. Waste Management provided us with a separate trash bin for yard waste, and that’s where the peels etc. go.</p>
<p>Many local ordinances don’t allow garbage disposals to be installed unless they drain into a sewer, and septic system companies will tell you to never use a disposal with a septic system even if allowed, as they aren’t designed to handle that much solid matter. (As for the frequency of pumping out a septic tank, the need will vary with the size of the system and the number of people living in the home, but annual service, while costly, may avoid a lot of headaches.)</p>
<p>I grew up with a garbage disposal in the home (one that seemed to have no problem handling everything), but have lived with septic systems and no disposals for many years. I honestly don’t miss the disposal at all. Most of the time it seems just as easy to dump everything in the trash. You just have to develop different kitchen habits, and be prepared to empty the trash more often, as there will be more volume, and smellier contents.</p>
<p>This is my first garbage disposal, and thankfully we are on a sewer, not a septic. I had assumed that most anything that would wind up smelling up the garbage could go in there. Now I know NOT to put in apple peels, potato peels, banana peels, onion skins, artichoke leaves. Someone upstream also said not to put bread into it – so no bits that are left over from a sandwich? I had also heard not to put in celery, since the fibers can create a clump that will block it, and no bones, since they may be too hard for the blades. And someone else said no carrot scrapings. The link that jym provided says no pasta or rice. </p>
<p>I am seriously wondering what’s left to put into it. Melon rinds? </p>
<p>If so much cannot go into it, I might skip it on the kitchen re-do.</p>
<p>We put pasta into it. With our old powerful disposal, we put almost everything in it. We don’t have one now in our apartment, and I do miss it.</p>
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<p>I’ve never had a garbage disposal, and I’ve found this thread really interesting. I always assumed that they could just take anything and that was the point of them. So if actual peels can’t go in disposals, what are they used for? Actual food that was left on people plates? (I guess that does make sense as it makes plates easier to clean in the sink).</p>
<p>I’ve almost always composted, though.</p>
<p>After reading the attached link I posted, I wondered what we <em>could</em> put down the disposal.</p>
<p>I do put rice/pasta down, but not a lot. And I run the water a lot. I also put eggshells down, and they say no to that too.</p>
<p>But I dont put melon rinds down.</p>
<p>I had heard putting coffee grinds down helped with any odor, but they say no to that too.</p>
<p>Not putting potato peels down the garbage disposal is news to me. We’ve been putting all peels except banana peels down the disposal for the past 22 years. We also put egg shells and chicken bones down it.</p>
<p>I’m thinking it’s more about technique. The disposal should be empty, then turn on the water, then turn on the disposal. Gradually move items into the disposal to be churned away. Continue to run the water for at least a minute after all chopping has subsided. Then turn off the disposal, then turn off the water.</p>
<p>We also put baked potato shells down the disposal. If we had this huge list of don’ts, I wouldn’t bother with a disposal.</p>
<p>A few years after we moved here, our plumber discovered that the pipe in the basement had a bow in it, and that caused a clog. He fixed that pipe, and we haven’t had a problem since.</p>
<p>VH, I once jammed my dad’s disposal with artichoke leaves. Like you, I’d never dealt with one before. As far as I’m concerned, they’re one more thing to break. My lesson from that time, was no fibrous vegetables, celery, those artichoke leaves, etc. In that house, the main purpose for the disposal was to flush down potato peels. </p>
<p>Managing property, I did learn that most have that useful reset button as mentioned above. </p>
<p>My compost bucket, and a city subsidized plastic compost box not far from the back door solve the problem in an organized low tech way, and give garden fertilizer as well.</p>
<p>You can put apple and potato peels down your disposer…you just can’t do FIVE pounds worth at once. Since I never peel apples or potatoes when cooking (unless someone is being picky about the peels in mashed potatoes) its not an issue. We put pasta down ours all the time…and rice.</p>
<p>And we are on a septic system which was another reason for getting a unit that would PULVARIZE whatever was put into it.</p>