5 Items that Should Never Be Put in a Garbage Disposal
One of the best little gadgets to have in your kitchen is a garbage disposal! This electric device helps shred excess food particles and makes them small enough to be transported through your home’s plumbing system — instead of a nearby trash can.
However, while this device can help clean up around your kitchen effortlessly, there are a few odds and ends that should never come in contact with it — or else you’ll run into a jam. Here are a few of the most common “toss into a regular garbage can” items:
1. Chicken Bones
Who doesn’t love wing night? Well, your garbage disposal certainly doesn’t. Chicken bones and other dense animal bones should never be put in your disposal. The reason being is that they’re too dense and can snap the propellers within your disposal — causing a jam.
2. Fruit Pits
Love them or leave them, some of the most popular fruits on the market have pits that can jeopardize the well-being of your garbage disposal. For instance, take the pit of an avocado — the dense ball is not suitable to be placed in your disposal. Doing so will cause irreparable damage (which can be rather costly to resolve).
3. Coffee Grounds
Contrary to popular belief, coffee grounds are not an ideal deodorizer for your garbage disposal. When blended up, they’ll turn into a thick, pasty mass that will cause more harm than good in your drain line. If you’re looking to deodorize your garbage disposal, consider cutting up half a lemon and let it pulse through your disposal.
4. Onion Skins
Sure, onion skins might seem harmless — but they’re a menace to your drains. If the skin is tossed into a disposal and misses the blades, it can cause a gnarly obstruction in your drain. To help avoid this, consider tossing onion skins into your nearby trash can, or compost them!
5. Paint
Do you like to paint? If so, make sure to keep oil or latex paints away from your garbage disposal. Sadly, these types of paints can get lodged in hard-to-reach areas of your disposal and harden, causing a whirlwind of unexpected plumbing trouble for you down the road.