A common issue with rental properties is the garbage disposal. The last thing you want when you come home is to find your sink backed up from a clogged drain or malfunctioning garbage disposal. The bad news is that, by the time the water’s rising and bringing bits of last night’s dinner with it, there’s nothing to do but call the plumber and cross your fingers. The good news is that there are quite a few things you can do to avoid that fate! Keep your drains and garbage disposals clean and flowing freely with these quick and simple steps.
Drain Care
Step 1: Watch what you put down there. Too much grease or mounds of coffee grounds can get stuck in your pipes. Put them in the trash instead.
Step 2: Run hot water through the sink after each use. Sounds simple, but it’s effective; hot water will carry the oils from your foods down and away, so they won’t congeal to the inside of your pipes and cause blockages.
Step 3: Put baking soda or vinegar down the drain once a day. Both baking soda and vinegar are excellent natural cleansing agents. They’ll loosen the gunk accumulating in your pipes – plus they are odor eliminators! They’ll keep your kitchen smelling fresh and clean.
Garbage Disposal Care
Step 1: Run your disposal daily. Food particles, particularly from acidic foods, can cause corrosion when they sit on the blades of your garbage disposal. Run the disposal every time you wash the dishes to keep the blades sharp and gears turning.
Step 2: Keep the water running before, during and after grinding disposables. Let your water run for a second before you start your disposal, and let it run for a moment after you turn the disposal off. Never turn your water off before your disposal – your pipes need to be rinsed!
Step 3: Don’t grind large items all at once. You don’t want to put that whole chunk of meatloaf or bad apple half down there. Too much food overworks your motors, making trouble more likely down the line. Break things up into bits.
Step 4: Avoid putting stringy or hard foods down the sink. Throw away your peach pits and your old celery. Hard foods can break your blades, while stringy foods are more likely to stick to the insides of your pipes (because they absorb so much water).