With the holiday season in full swing, your home might be hosting more friends and family than usual, and your kitchen will likely be doing most of the work to keep them well fed and entertained. It's likely that your kitchen houses one of your most used, yet often most misunderstood, plumbing appliances – your garbage disposal.
If you're going to be cooking, cleaning, and disposing of food waste for an influx of guests during this time of year, knowing the proper ways to utilize your garbage disposal is key to preventing any plumbing emergencies or long term, sustained damage.
One of the most commons rules to using your kitchen sink's garbage disposal is that you should have the water running while it is on. While this is very true, there is a wrinkle to this rule that can greatly impact how effective your machine can be at chopping up food waste.
Oftentimes, people might think using hot water to rinse and clean dishes is best, but this is something you should avoid if you plan on running your garbage disposal after. Cold water will allow for any bits of fat and grease to solidify, which in turn will be easier to grind up and drain. Using warm to hot water with your garbage disposal can actually cause these fats to liquify and lead to drain clogs and disposal jams.
Overfilling your garbage disposal with any type of food can lead to trouble, causing jams immediately, or slowly creating a problem over time. Along with overfilling, you should also be sure to fully grind up the things you put in the disposal. This will ensure that nothing will be large enough to clog or jam into the drainpipe.
If you are having garbage disposal issues, or any have any other plumbing needs this holiday season, contact Coleman Plumbing today.