Sure, you can put paper in your garbage disposal. Just make sure you have Kotz Heating, Cooling & Plumbing on your speed dial to request disposal maintenance. You get my point? Paper and garbage disposals don’t play well together in your Waterford, MI or Oxford, MI home. Nearly all paper is made from wood fiber, and fibrous materials are among the things you don’t want to put in a disposal. Let’s take a closer look at the list of things to avoid preventing plumbing problems:
COFFEE GROUNDS
This may surprise you, but coffee grounds share characteristics with many items on this list: They get sticky when wet. As a result, coffee grounds tend to stick to disposal blades and can even coat the inside of drainpipes. Coffee grounds belong in the trash, not in the garbage disposal.
PASTA
What happens to pasta when it gets wet? It expands. When that happens in a garbage disposal, the blades can’t process the pasta properly and it can lead to clogs and other plumbing problems.
BONES
Make no bones about it (see what I did there?) they don’t belong in the garbage disposal. A disposal is not all-powerful, and the blades are not strong enough to break up animal bones. Instead, they can end up chipping, cracking, or completely breaking the blades in your disposal. By the way, the same thing applies to hard fruit pits like cherry & peach.
NUTS
I have friends in Georgia who have their own pecan trees and they sometimes make their own pecan butter. All nuts are high in oil content and quickly turn into a sticky butter-like substance when they are ground up. Not something you want to happen in your garbage disposal.
FIBROUS FRUITS & VEGETABLES
This takes us back to our original question about putting paper in a garbage disposal. Fibrous fruits and vegetables like banana peels, celery and rhubarb break down into long, stringy pieces that tend to tangle up inside the disposal.
SO WHAT CAN I PUT IN THE DISPOSAL?
Don’t get the wrong idea, a garbage disposal is an invaluable tool, but it’s not a mechanical version of a trash can, so you shouldn’t treat it like one. Most leftovers and small food waste from dining plates are okay. So are some fruit and vegetable scraps, just be aware of the exceptions we’ve already mentioned. When it comes to avoiding plumbing problems related to the garbage disposal this is the rule to live by: If in doubt, throw it out—in the trash that is.
KOTZ IS ALWAYS READY TO HELP
Do you have more questions about your garbage disposal and what you can and cannot run through it? Or maybe you need some help with disposal repairs, maintenance, or replacement. Don’t hesitate to call Kotz Heating, Cooling & Plumbing. Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to learn more about the services we offer in Waterford, MI and Oxford, MI.
