How To Get Rid Of Smell In Garbage Disposal?
How do we get rid of the smell in our garbage disposal? Imagine getting up on a Sunday morning, feeling great and ready to hit your day running, when this stinky smell from your kitchen grosses you out. And yes, it is none other than your garbage disposal! But why does your garbage disposal smell bad?
People think that a garbage disposal works not very different from a blender with blades when doing the grinding process. Well, it does not work that way. Instead of blades, garbage disposals have this pair of impellers or what we call “lugs” which sit on the spinning plate to forcibly push the food particles using centrifugal force. Food particles are then washed out using running tap water leading to the drain.
As much as a garbage disposal is being imperative to your kitchen, for it constantly allows food scraps to pass through your drain system, it could release a stinky smell if not deodorized regularly. Food scraps that we throw into our sink may leave some particles on the inside pipes or in the garbage disposal itself, which in the long run, may get stuck and release an unlikable smell.
So you must remember that if your garbage disposal smells as bad as the sewage, the possibility is that your home will smell bad as well. Well, worry not because there are simple ways and basic steps on how to get rid of the smell in your garbage disposal starting from habitual cleaning down to how to make your garbage disposal smell better
Ways to Clean Your Garbage Disposal
Garbage disposal smells like sewage isn’t surprising though could be a nuisance at times. An important place like the kitchen must be kept clean not only to avoid bad smells but to make sure family members will have good health while staying in the comfort of their homes. For these reasons, we have listed ways on how to clean your garbage disposal.
Clean the outside of the disposal.
When garbage disposal smells bad, we think that the problem is inside it, which is most of the time, true. However, keeping the exposed part of your garbage disposal clean can also contribute to avoiding the sewage-like smell. It may not totally eliminate the bad smell as much as cleaning the inside of your garbage disposal but this could help.
For example, most garbage disposals have this removable rubber stopper or the splash guard to keep water and food wastes from dashing back up your sink. As time goes by, this guard can develop some sticky thick food particles. And since it is made of rubber, once dirt gets stuck to it, chances are this will emit a bad smell. On the other hand, a discolored gasket splash guard can be repainted so that this can turn into a harder rubber and can prevent the food particles from sticking on it while the paint itself can prevent it from getting ripped off.
Using Garbage Disposal Brush.
There are many types of cleaning brushes we can find in many stores. But though they all serve the same purpose, we need to find a brush with distinct features that can be suitable and effective in cleaning our garbage disposal units. Most people use brushes with soft material-like cloths together with dishwashing liquids and brushing the inside can be one of the most effective ways to get rid of bad smell in your garbage disposal. This method can also eliminate the bad odor due to the disinfecting effect of the dishwashing liquid.
To use the garbage disposal brush effectively, you have to insert it into your garbage disposal sinkhole until it reaches the inside part then brush everything that the brushes can reach. If the structure of the garbage disposal can make brushing difficult, you can bend the stem of the brush if it’s made of bendable wire.
Foaming Cleanser.
Many home remedies and DIY tips can be found on the internet. However, most of these don’t usually work. In this manner, you can use a foam cleaner to ensure that cleaning the inside of your garbage disposal will be more effective.
Usually, when a garbage disposal smells like sewage, this is because of the hose connecting the unit and the sink and are trapping some of the food particles and stocking them along the passage. Unfortunately, there is no way you can check this unless you pull out the hose and inspect it thoroughly. The use of foaming cleanser will help in easing out these trapped food particles although this will only work for a limited time. So to avoid food getting trapped, make sure how you use your sink and your garbage disposal is not contributing to the problem.
How to Make Garbage Disposal Smell Better
It can be very embarrassing to have a garbage disposal that smells like sewage especially when you have your friends coming by or you have a weekend party in your house then suddenly the bad smell fills your house. Needless to say, this should not happen. So if you are planning to gather some people in your house, make sure everything going on with your garbage disposal is fine and will not emit a foul odor.
So here our best advice on how to avoid this:
Use Natural Remedies and Deodorizer. Your garbage disposal shouldn’t be stressing you out since the solution to your problem is just inside your home. Baking soda has been proven to be a tough cleaning agent in various ways and cleaning and deodorizing the garbage disposal can be one of its best uses. Adding vinegar when using it will create a foamy-like cleaner which can then remove the smelly rotten food particles leaving your garbage disposal smelling fresh and clean.
If you don’t feel like using baking soda and vinegar because of the pungent smell of vinegar, there are also other things in your house that you can use on how to get rid of the smell in a garbage disposal. Try ice. We once watched a lady in one of her videos using ice. She grounded up the ice cubes on her garbage disposal and the gunk and the trapped food just went up then goes down as if it was flushed. If this will work for you, you can then throw orange peel into your unit to deodorize it.
Citrus peelings are proven to be effective deodorizers ever since man discovers their sanitizing properties. Lime, oranges, and lemon are among these fruits being lemon as the most popular and most effective citrus fruit. Its natural acidic ingredients can remove the bad smell without the need of using deodorizing products. So always add citrus peelings into your waste that should go into your garbage disposal but make sure you remove the seeds first to avoid clogging issues. If you want to mix all of the cleaning agents mentioned above, you can try to freeze the strips of the citrus then add vinegar and also some ice cubes.
Prevention is Better than Cure
Idealistically speaking, the best way on how to get rid of the smell in our garbage disposal is to clean it every week or regularly. Realistically, even if we religiously clean our garbage disposal, food scraps would always end up sticking to the passageway or anywhere along this part until this will decay and produce a bad smell. However, being consistent in cleaning may result in a lesser odorous problem and fortunately, we have found some preventive ways on keeping your garbage disposal smelling clean.
Cold water. Cold water is better than hot water. Some of us may not believe this because we think that hot water can soften stocked-up dirt anywhere it is. But it was proven that pouring cold water into the garbage disposal can reduce the accumulation of grease and oil inside the unit.
Drop the eggshells and citrus peels. You can drop the eggshells to remove the food scraps left on the edges or surface of the garbage disposal and it can act as a natural scraper while the citrus peelings will leave a good smell and deodorize your unit.
Soak your garbage disposal with water. Allowing your tap water to run for about half to a full minute after using your sink will make gunk in your garbage disposal to be flushed down due to the pressure of the water coming in. So no gunk inside your garbage disposal means no bad smell.
Remember to clean the rubber splash as it also collects bits of food scrap. Use a foaming cleaner or a garbage disposal brush to clean this up. If you have the replacement for this part, change it for the better.
Avoid putting food scraps that can cause clogging problems into your garbage disposal. These include the following :
Grease / Oil
Coffee Grounds
Rice and Pasta
Bones
Seeds
Fruit Cores
Vegetable Pits
Vegetables with fibers
Celery
Artichokes
Non-food items like straw, cap, and the likes
We have discussed these in one of our blogs “How to Clean a Garbage Disposal” and you can find there useful information about what food scraps can be thrown into the sink’s garbage disposal and what should not and the reasons why.
So if you can follow these simple preventive measures, your garbage disposal unit may last for years and can maintain its cleanliness and out of bad smell. However, if your unit seems to be not functioning well despite your maintenance and cleaning ways, better call for professional help. You may also need to check your dishwasher because sometimes this may have some stocked dirt in its system and also your septic tank.
Garbage Disposal Trivia
Did you know that garbage disposal units can help reduce the release of greenhouse gasses? The centrifugal force that occurs within the garbage disposal helps the food scraps to be ground and turned into the smallest particle while the water turns the waste into the liquefied matter and helps this to be flushed out into the wastewater system or the septic tank.
Waste disposal, in general, is partly responsible for climate change since it is one of the major sources of greenhouse gasses. We throw our bio-degradable waste into the bins and these go to the landfills and contribute to the greenhouse gasses. But with the garbage disposal units, instead of throwing these waste out, we grind them up and flush them out so these units help in preventing the accumulation of organic waste instead of disposing of them up in our landfills.
Conclusion
Now that you have learned the ways on how to maintain a clean garbage disposal and knew some tips on how to deodorize it, don’t forget that regular cleaning is an essential part of how to keep your house clean, safe and smelling fresh starting with the proper management of your kitchen equipment.
So remember, sometimes you need to work on how to get rid of that bad smell from your garbage disposal and the methods are not difficult to do. If you have more problems with it, you can watch videos on YouTube about proper maintenance and also some troubleshooting tips. You can also check the unit’s manual in case problems occur. Don’t try to disassemble your unit if you are not familiar with its parts to avoid accidents. If your garbage disposal is already old and constantly bogging up, better replace it with a new one.
