Here's How Often To Clean Your Garbage Disposal And How To Do It Safely

Garbage disposals are there to make cleaning your kitchen a whole lot faster, but like any tool, we can forget that they need cleaning too. Making food scraps disappear down your drain with the flip of a switch can feel like a modern miracle, and that makes the garbage disposal one of the easiest kitchen tools to neglect. It's not enough to avoid putting certain food scraps in your garbage disposal, you'll also need to periodically clean out the inevitable buildup, even if you take good care of it. But thankfully, it's not a big chore. You can clean your garbage disposal in a few minutes with basic kitchen cleaning products.

You don't need to clean your garbage disposal every day, but being on top of it once every week or two is a good habit to get into. So each time you give your kitchen a deep clean, make sure that the garbage disposal is included in the rotation. It isn't always obvious if it will need cleaning more frequently than that, but any odors coming from the disposal, or unusual noises when you use it, are a good sign to give it a cleaning ahead of schedule. Once it's time to clean, don't think about sticking any tools or your hand down in the disposal, because you can get a good clean with common kitchen ingredients and basic mixtures like soap and water, plus a few other tricks.

To clean your garbage disposal using hot water and soap, turn on your faucet and wait until the water gets warm, then add a few drops of dish soap to the garbage disposal. Turn on the disposal and let it run while continuing to let the hot water flow for about three minutes. You can add a little more soap if it stops bubbling completely, but you don't need a lot. Stop the disposal and the water, then add a cup of ice cubes. Chopping these up will help further clean the blades, and sharpen them. Run the disposal again until the ice is gone, then flush everything one last time with hot water.

If your garbage disposal seems like it needs a bit of a deeper clean, try baking soda and vinegar. Just add a half cup of baking soda to the disposal, then one cup of vinegar, and let the mixture bubble for up to ten minutes. Then, flush everything with water. As an additional measure you can also use citrus peels — while you shouldn't be grinding a whole lemon, cutting off a few thin slices of lemon or orange peels, freezing them, and then grinding them releases oils that can help further remove buildup on your garbage disposal. It's a small effort to take care of one of the most useful tools in your kitchen.