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Wednesday, December 10 
I have a confession to make . . . I have this issue you see . . . a bit of a problem you could say . . . I am a disaster with garbage disposals.
OK, before we start with any troubleshooting, I want you to promise me that you will please obey the cardinal rule of "Garbage Disposal Repair". That is you will never put your hand in the hopper (down the drain into the disposal)! Do I listen to this cardinal rule, brah hah ha! Down the drain my hand goes to see what mischief is down my disposal.
That being said, let's take a look at fixing this vital piece of kitchen equipment in my kitchen that I consistently try to destroy. A couple of days before Thanksgiving I went to turn the disposal on and ‘click, click, click’ nothing. No purr of the motor . . . no grinding of food. My husband was sitting there and gave me ‘the look’, which I knew, meant, you are in BIG trouble. After a good lecture, which I completely ignored . . .
DH: “I am NOT fixing it”
ME: “If you don’t fix it, I’m calling the plumber”
DH: "I'm not fixing it"
ME: "You are"
“Hey Honey” in a very stern, commanding voice . . . I simply ignored him and kept on with my task because I knew that he had figured out what the problem was with the disposal.
This is what he was pointing to. The mangled dime that was wedged in between the blades. There is a normal dime sitting next to "my" dime to show you what a dime should look like.DH: “Well, you aren’t watching what is going down there either”
DH: “I’m getting real sick of this, every year or so you are breaking these disposals”
DH: “This is the last one, I’m telling you, I will not install another one”
DH: “Do you hear me?”
ME: “Yes, I hear you and I didn’t do it, but thanks for fixing it and saving yourself $200 bucks and 6 hours of misery”
Yesterday, while cleaning up after dinner, I flip the switch of my disposal and I hear not the smooth purr of the disposal, but a clankety, clank clank.
ME: “Nothing, it’s nothing.”
DH: “Get out of the way”, tongs in hand . . . he digs out . . . a mangled medicine dispenser
ME: “I DID NOT put that down there, it was sitting in the sink, but I didn’t do it – it was you . . . when you washed your hands, you let it slide down there”
DH: "RRROOOOAAARRRR"
Let me tell you, I heard it for a full 15 minutes on this damn garbage disposal. I don’t think I’m going to use it for awhile now. Or at least I am going to try remember to put the lid on or is in in?
Avoid the Following:
* Do not grind up potato peelings. They will form a starchy paste similar to mashed potatoes when ground up and will surely clog your drain.
*Do not put coffee grounds or eggshells into your disposal. They create very tiny granular waste that will stick to any sludge in the pipe and quickly create a clog.
*Do not put bones down your disposal.
Do the Following:
* Maintain your disposal by regularly grinding up pieces of lemon peel and ice cubes.
* Avoid odors by also treating your disposal every month with a combination of a couple of handfuls of baking soda and a half cup of vinegar. Let that set in the disposal hopper with the unit turned off.
*After it's done foaming, rinse it down the drain with running water.
*Freshen your garbage disposal with a bit of baking soda and dishwashing detergent. Just sprinkle a bit of the soda and couple of squirts of detergent into the disposal and using a bottle brush, scrub vigorously. Flush with clean water.
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Reader Comments (58)
I have learned way too much about garbage disposals in the past few days, as mine was horribly clogged and nothing worked... UNTIL I took a plunger upside down and turned, turned, turned and voila! I love google. :)
Okay I have to laugh only because we've had some *ahem* strange items in the bottom of ours too. The toddler would be the one to blame for this because I didn't do it LOL
Just about the only thing my husband has replaced in our home is the garbage disposal...
Didn't know that about the egg shells. Uh oh.
This gave me a good laugh. I love that you giggle when your husband yells. I have that problem too sometimes (of course no husband to giggle about, but you know what I mean).
I can't keep silverware out of my disposal. Ever.
So we're in synch, er, sink?
WHOOPS!!! FUNNY POST
LOL!! Wish I had a disposal!!!!!!!! And dishwasher!!!!
I don't have a disposal, but was thoroughly entertained by yours. :)
ohh, so that is what that was. I had one in the disposal last week. Although I could really blame my husband for it. He empties his pockets on the bar above the sink!!
I feel your pain. I did the potato peel thing. Also, I am not allowed to transplant in the kitchen anymore. This rule came after breaking the disposal with rocks!!!
I have learned to just fix it myself and if I can't then I call my dh. I think that everyone has turned on the disposal to hear an awful noise. For me it is always a piece of silverware.
At first you had me worried and I read every word so did not scroll down to make sure that you did not put your hand down that disposal and hurt yourself. Better the pain of a screaming roaring husband than the grinding of ones five digits!! This was a great post! It is my husband who puts strange too much down the drain then clogs the disposal. Really if you think about it there is very little you can safely put down those things!!
Happy WW!
I think we are one in the same on the disposal situation. I lose more droppers that way and crunch up so many plastic spoons. Okay, I just put a butt load of potato peels in the disposal. It always gets clogged up when I do that, but I was too lazy to carry them to the trash can. Thanks for the cleaning info. NEVER cleaned it in the three years I've been in this house, but I do use orange peels to freshen it up.
Oh my....I will keep that in mind. I put eggshells down there all the time but not too many. Happy WW:) Im glad it all worked out OK.
WOW! I had no idea disposals could do that to coins :/
Doh! I'm totally guilty of putting egg shells down ours. I'm whipping out the baking soda tomorrow. Thank you for the tips.
I've always put egg shells and coffee grounds down ours LOL hmm. But I also am good at putting in lemon peel and those little beads for your disposal. I forget what they're called.
I couldn't help but laugh reading this post. I could imagine my husband doing the same thing =)
Quite funny!
When I was a kid, my sister went through a stage where she would 'flush' everything - it drove my dad mad!!
A magical WW to you!
Great tips. Sorry that the disposal is having problems. I have something down my disposal now. I hope it doesn't break.
Oh my gosh..this just killed me because I BROKE OUR GARBAGE DISPOSAL JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO! My husband finally fixed over Thanksgiving weekend because the trash was smelling so bad because I didn't have the disposal. In my case, it was one of those corn on the cob holder thingys. But I'm kind of glad even though it cost a lot to fix and made hubby really really made because the new one is really really quiet and doesn't shake the foundations of the house!
No more blockage. Happy WW! :)
Too funny! I lost a ring to a garbage disposal once!
we just had to replace ours about 6 months ago or so because someone put something in there that wasn't supposed to be in there.... anyway, thanks for the tips, i have definitely abused my garbage disposal!
Oh, I SO learned the hard way with potato peels...
I so have a love/hate relationship with my garbage disposal. Grr..
My biggest sin is starting the disposal after a fork or spoon has dropped down in there...thankfully, I've never broken it. This was a very entertaining wordful wednesday!! Love how you laugh when you are in trouble:)
I almost peed my pants this was so funny.
OMgosh! GIGGLING really loud and it's 2am! hahaha
Happy WW!
Too funny and too familiar. I don't have a disposal any more, but when I did, I was quite dangerous with it.
I think I am glad that we don't have a garbage disposal! LOL
Happy WW
Funny....I like the fact that you giggle when he's mad...I'd do the same thing. Now the dime? You wonder if you can spend it? [just a thought]
Come see my Wordful Wednesday if you can find time!! It's a catghan!
Next time hubby and i get mad, I am going to remember this and hopefully giggle...giggling is definitely more fun :)
That's so funny! Thanks for sharing. Congratulations on making David's list.
Peace!
Lee
Been there, done that. :) Kids and disposals don't mix. I am happy to say I have been disposal free for about 3 years now. :) I always got the dang things clogged.
Ugh me and my garbage disposal have a love hate relationship. I am so glad you didn't stick your hand down in there gross!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. Happy Wednesday!
Oh you a very bad girl :) I usually try to make sure nothing is down there before I turn it on. And I have this habit that even when no one is around me I still look to make sure no one's hand is near that on switch before I put my hand down. Someone can reach for a paper towel and turn it on accidentally and that would just suck!
Oooof. I needed those disposal tips. We have far fewer spoons in our house for the mangled short ones that have mistakenly found their way down...
Had NO idea about the potato peels OR the coffee grounds. You may have just saved me! :)
Thanks for coming by my blog and commenting! I'll most defnitely be revisiting you here. :)
So, are you following all those tips now? Wonder if you can still spend that dime... ; )
money in the disposal...that's a new one for me! i have found all kinds of things though. the biggest culprit here...straws!!
Thanks for the tips! LOL I don't have a garbage disposal however I am always clogging up the sink...your hubby sounds a LOT like mine! LOL
LOL! We don't have a garbage disposal but I will be getting one when we redo the kitchen! So thanks for the lesson.
My 10 year old discovered that you can't put insulated metal cups in the microwave! I was thinking of doing that for my WW but I figured it was probably best to put out the fire first and skip the photo opportunity.
Too funny! But very informative. I am obviously WAY behind the monthly maintenance...better go buy some lemons.
I am one of those horrible people who do everything on your 'don't' list. Most of the time I'm just fine. (A squirt of dish detergent helps almost everything go through--no problem) When it does back up though, I know it's my fault!
At least after (almost) 25 years my hubby doesn't yell at me. He just grumbles a lot and fixes it.
I have been yearning for a disposal but now I can see it creates conflict. The last thing I need is another thing to have hubs bitching about. Cause I'm not going to start picking up my side of the room or buying shoes anytime soon.
"I'm not fixing it! The next day..."
I love it, it sounds like my house. Protesting the whole time he's fixing. I don't have a garbage disposal, but I have a thing for clogging drains.
Once I had a worm in mine (long story). This is a great post, I can totally relate. I would be lost without mine.
OMGosh..I love giggle moments and need to do that with my hubby more often! That had me chuckling..."I didn't do it"...when my kids say it..hmmmm..but when I say it I mean it d@##it!!! Thanks for the laugh and info about garbage disposals...Where's the plug??tehe
Hehe. That was too funny. Great post!!
I also do not recommend broccoli. It stinks something awful.
Thanks for the laughs! I especially loved the conversation with your husband when he realized what happened. I think it's a good thing I don't have a garbage disposal, or I'm sure we'd be having those talks at our house, too.
Luckily, we don't have a garbage disposal. Looks like it is way more trouble than it is worth!