Whether you’re fixing a big meal for a holiday celebration or just a family dinner, you want your preparations to go as smoothly and stress-free as possible. But sometimes, to keep your kitchen clean while making your meal, you may dispose of grease, vegetable peels and other food waste down the garbage disposal and drain. Unfortunately, these and other food items can congeal into a sticky blob that clogs your drain, leading to unexpected plumbing emergencies.

While Pipe Dream Plumbing is happy to fix your clogged drain problem, we don’t want you to have plumbing nightmares in the first place. After all, who wants to spend their holiday or family dinner worrying about a backed-up drain and a kitchen full of dirty dishes? Therefore, here are some dos and don’ts to help you keep your garbage disposal and drain clog free.

Garbage Disposal Dos:

• Throw food waste and leftovers in the trash or compost pile.
• While running cold water, slowly, feed food into the disposal a little at a time to keep the food bits and water flowing freely down your drain. Continue to run the cold water 20 to 30 seconds after your disposal finishes grinding up the waste. Then turn off the water.
  

Garbage Disposal Don’ts:

• Don’t throw large amounts of food down your garbage disposal.
• Don’t grind animal bones in your disposal. They can damage the disposal blades.
• Don’t put potato peels down your disposal. The starches in the potatoes will turn into a thick paste that causes the blades to stick.
• Don’t grind up fibrous vegetables, like corn husks, celery stalks, onion skins and artichokes, in your disposal. Fibers from these vegetables can become entangled in the blades, causing them to jam.
• Don’t put expandable foods like rice and pasta in your disposal. They can swell up and clog your drain.
• Don’t pour grease, oil or fat down your drain. Grease can accumulate over time, sticking to the pipes and causing a blockage. Also, your disposal blades won’t work as well as they should.
• Don’t use hot water to grind food in your disposal. Hot water can cause grease to liquefy and accumulate in the drain, causing it to clog.
• Don’t put coffee grounds down your disposal. They can accumulate in your drain, resulting in a clog.

If you just remember your garbage disposal isn’t meant to replace your trash can, you shouldn’t have to deal with any plumbing problems during your holiday celebration or family dinner. However, if your garbage disposal quits or your drain backs up, contact the plumbing experts at Pipe Dream Plumbing at 317.388.1988 for a repair estimate and to schedule an appointment. We want to take your plumbing nightmares away, so you can enjoy the company of your family and friends.