Thanksgiving Garbage Disposal Do's and Don'ts

The day after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days of the year for kitchen drain calls. It makes sense: more cooking, more people rinsing plates, and a lot of food scraps that seem like they should go down the garbage disposal — but shouldn't.

A few habits on the big day can keep your kitchen sink draining and your disposal running through the whole holiday season.

Keep these out of the disposal and drain

• Grease, fat and pan drippings. They go down as a liquid and harden in the pipes. Let them cool and pour them into a can or jar for the trash.
• Potato peels. They turn into a thick, starchy paste that clogs the drain line.
• Turkey bones and carcass. Disposals aren't built to grind large bones.
• Stringy, fibrous scraps — celery, onion skins, corn husks, asparagus ends. The fibers wrap around the disposal and catch other debris.
• Rice, pasta and stuffing. They keep swelling with water after they go down.
• Coffee grounds. They settle in the pipes and build up like sludge.

Do this instead

1. Scrape plates into the trash or compost before rinsing them.
2. Run cold water before, during and for several seconds after using the disposal.
3. Feed scraps in a little at a time instead of all at once.
4. Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before washing.
5. If you're hosting a crowd, put a trash can right next to the sink so guests helping with dishes have somewhere to scrape plates.

What to do if the disposal jams or stops

1. Turn the disposal off and unplug it or switch off its breaker. Never put your hand inside.
2. Look for the hex socket in the center of the bottom of the unit. Use the hex wrench that came with it (or a matching Allen wrench) to work it back and forth and free the jam.
3. Wait a few minutes, then press the red reset button on the bottom.
4. Restore power, run cold water, and try it again.

If it just hums, won't reset, or leaks from the bottom, it's time for a repair or replacement. Our garbage disposal troubleshooting guide covers these problems in more detail.

When the problem is the drain, not the disposal

If water backs up into the other side of a double sink, or the sink drains slowly even when the disposal runs fine, the clog is further down the drain line. Skip the store-bought drain cleaners — they're hard on pipes and rarely clear grease clogs (here's why store-bought cleaners don't work). A plumber can clear the line properly with professional drain cleaning.

Holiday plumbing help

Carolina's A1 Plumbing Service installs and repairs garbage disposals and clears kitchen drains. Learn more about our garbage disposal services. We serve Greer, Greenville, Spartanburg and the rest of the Upstate, 24/7. Call 864-365-8900.