How to Properly Clean a Garbage Disposal so it Never Smells Nasty

You can find articles all over the Internet with ways on how to remove the smells from your garbage disposal. And, some of the recommended methods work very well. But, did you know that your disposal isn’t supposed to smell bad in the first place? It’s true! A garbage disposal is supposed to shred up your food scraps. The debris then fall on down the drain. Run a little water, and the debris moves farther down yet. After awhile, you’ll likely notice a rotting smell coming from your drain telling you something is wrong down there. If you find this happening to you, read this informative article and learn how to properly clean a garbage disposal so it never smells nasty!

The Usual Way to Use a Garbage Disposal
I don’t claim to be an expert on how to properly use a garbage disposal. I do it pretty much the same way everyone else I know does. You turn on the cold water faucet, then turn on the disposal. Place your food scraps into the mouth of the machine and let it do its thing. When you no longer hear the blades grinding anything, you assume the disposal is now clear. You then let the water run for fifteen to twenty seconds, and, finally, shut it off.

The problem is, if you keep doing that for awhile, pretty soon you’re probably going to notice a terrible smell caused by rotted food scraps and residue that have collected, and are now decaying in your drain. This decomposition produces smelly gasses and odor-causing bacteria.

The Problem – A Lack of Water
Garbage disposals require a lot of water to operate efficiently. That is, they need a great amount of water run down them every time they are used. The water serves two purposes: 1) It helps move the shredded food scraps on down the drain and out. And, 2) The water helps remove the scraps, as well as the sludge, from the sides of your garbage disposal and your drain pipe.

Garbage Disposals Require A lot of Water to Be Clean
To properly clean a garbage disposal so it never smells nasty, you need to send quite a bit of water down the chute- more water than just running the faucet for several seconds every time you use the disposal. Running your faucet alone can’t always completely wash off the gunk that splashes up on the side of the garbage disposal. Keep in mind, when those blades are whirling, muck is flying!

The Solution – Send More Water Down!
No, I don’t mean to run your kitchen faucet more. That probably wouldn’t work to properly clean a garbage disposal so it never smells nasty. What works for me is this: at least once a day I wash my dishes in my kitchen sink. I plug up one side and run some hot rinse water in there. In the other side, I nearly fill the sink with hot water and dishwashing detergent. Then, after my dishes are washed, I open the left side and let the rinse water flow down the sink and through the garbage disposal. I then plug the sink up again. Using a small bucket, I fill the empty sink with, at least, a couple inches of water, sometimes more. I then pull out the plug and let that water gush down through the disposal and the drain pipes.

I’m not using any more water than normal, yet the garbage disposal is getting the amount of water it needs to operate and be properly clean.
If you have a dishwasher, and I mean other than the human-type, you can still properly clean a garbage disposal the same way. Just plug the drain in your sink. Then, squirt a little dishwashing detergent in, and fill the sink with two to four inches of water. Finally, let plug out and allow the solution flow down, removing food scraps and gunk as it goes!