Find out: things that you shouldn’t put in the garbage disposal

Some foods or items shouldn’t go down the drain

The garbage disposal is really helpful: all the food scraps you have can easily go down the drain and the disposal will do the rest. But there are some foods that your disposal might not be able to dispose of. Find out which foods shouldn’t go down the drain.
Peels of vegetables
According to experts, peels of carrots or the skin of potatoes can get eventually cause your garbage disposal to disfunction. That is because those peels will turn into a paste and that paste will stick to the blades. Eventually, the blades of your garbage disposal won’t work as well as they used to. So, throw your peels in the compost instead.

Onion
There are parts of the onion that can go in the garbage disposal without any issues. But one part of the onion should always be composted instead; the fleshy layer underneath the outer skin. When you put this part of the onion down the drain, it will go past the disposal and possibly clog your pipes. That is why it might be the safest option to just compost onions instead of taking the risk of putting them in the garbage disposal.

Shells
Even though it might seem obvious, it is still good to mention that seafood shells should not be put in the garbage disposal. The blades will not be able to crush the shells and they might break in the process.

Bones
Other food items that can not be crushed by the garbage disposal, are bones. Even though some small bones might make it through without any issues, the ground up bones can still cause blockages in your pipes if you put them down the drain of your kitchen sink.

Grease
Even though grease and oil will not hurt your garbage disposal, it will eventually hurt your pipes. And if grease and oil doesn’t clog your pipes, they might clog the public sewer system. So, keep grease and oil out of your garbage disposal. Not just for you, but for the rest of your neighborhood too.

Foods with fibrous strings
When you have pieces of pumpkin, banana, celery or other fibrous foods, you might want to refrain from putting them in the garbage disposal. That is because the strings that are in these foods wrap themselves around the blades. And that means that, eventually, your disposal will get damaged and might break.

Food that expands
Foods like pasta, beans, rice and oats are foods that expand when they come into contact with water. And that means that they’ll grow in your pipes. They will grow bigger when they get stuck in your pipes and eventually, they’ll cause a clog.

Seeds and pits
Pits, like those from avocados or peaches, shouldn’t go down the drain. This also includes the unpopped kernels of popcorn.