Originally Posted By Stacers76 Ok..this is a source of great, discussion we'll call it, in our house... What do you not put down your kitchen garbage disposal? I know stringy things (onion peels, celery, banana skins) and hard things like pits of fruit etc are bad.... What else?
Originally Posted By beamerdog A plumber once told me to only put things down that you can actually eat. Of course my MIL always puts down bananas, egg shells, etc. with no problem.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I heard a story on the radio about how much money and time municipalities spend clearing grease out of their drains. No matter how liqued or how solid it is when you put it in the drain it coats city pipes and makes a big mess. So, now I don't put grease, butter, oil, or other fats down the drain. All that goes in the trash.
Originally Posted By mater4 I put my grease into empty jars and toss them. Dont's for the disposal include egg shells and potato peels. After clogging my disposal with both of these things I avoid peels of any kind.
Originally Posted By RockyMtnMinnie I put pretty much everything down the garbage disposal just in small quantities at a time. But no grease, pasta or coffee grounds. I've only had a bad experience with spaghetti, but the backup into the kitchen got the insurance company to remodel the kitchen for us. Yuch, that was a mess.
Originally Posted By MissCandice I don't actually have a disposal in the sink. I heard you are not supposed to put eggshells in the disposal.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP Potato peels... I've ruined the disposal with potatoe peels. Just before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving at my house, that was a fun one, and potato peels? never again!!
Originally Posted By jdub I never knew why my disposal came with a lid-- --until the day I dumped a diaper down there.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Don't put pork in there - shredded or not - it's not pretty...
Originally Posted By DJ7K My friend a few weeks ago had something down in his, I forget what it was though. Something fruit related, but nothing of the above mentioned. Another thing would (er, on the "no no" list) probably be popcorn kernals. >> All that goes in the trash << Thats usually what it boils down to is disposing certain things that might attract ants so you'd think the garbage disposal has you covered. Then again, if it could cause problems down there, you reconsider the option of the kitchen trash. I guess if theres a chance ants will come, you can always put it in a ziploc or plastic (grocery) bag, roll it up real good, then trash it. Stuff like chicken, corn on the cob, etc. About what BeamerDog said regarding a plumber's advice, thats also the one thing you probably want to avoid the most - paying for it to be repaired. Then again if you live in areas like say the mountains where ants are the least of your worries as far as unwanted guests, well... good luck
Originally Posted By Stacers76 Darnit! I thought I was winning the discussion here at home with potato peels! Guess I can't blame the backups there on the old disposer anymore lol
Originally Posted By DJ7K I'm sorry, Stacers76. Makes me wonder though about folks in Idaho and their garbage disposals.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney A plumber once told me he replaced pipes in a house where a woman had dumped a whole bag of flour down the disposal. He said when mixed with water it basically made a burrito in her pipes! So, no flour down the disposal.
Originally Posted By Stacers76 They must have industrial potato killer disposals up there huh DJ7k?!? ) A whole bag of flour...ugh why? Thanks for the insight all!
Originally Posted By DVC_dad The only thing I have ever had problems with were potato peels. "The guy" said that potato peels were the #1 thing he gets called for when it come to dispose-all's. As for grease and oil, I let the oil cool, then poor it into a zip-loc baggie, then just throw it in the garbage can.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 We had a plumber come to replace our garbage disposal. As he was listing the things NOT to put in it, coffee grounds, celery, peels, egg shells on and on and on. He said that they were the dumbest things ever invented and that he won't "let" his wife, mother or grandmother have one. WHOA! Not only dissing something that puts $$ in his pocket, the "won't let" thing set me to boil and I made a mental note to never call him for service again. I hadn't heard the pasta thing (maybe my brain was on boil when Mr. Cool was telling me about pasta) good to know!
Originally Posted By lesmisfan lets see we dont put anything like artichoke leaves, or anything like that in it. it has gotten clogged before when we did that.
Originally Posted By beamerdog >>As for grease and oil, I let the oil cool, then poor it into a zip-loc baggie, then just throw it in the garbage can.<< I do something similar, but put them in a glass mayo jar. One time I had some roast fat skimmed off after cooking with some frying oil. My kids said the resulting gunk looked like a preserved heart.
