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How to Clean a Smelly Garbage Disposal in Five Simple Steps

how to clean a smelly garbage disposal

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Garbage disposals can often be associated with a pungent smell, so knowing how to clean a smelly garbage disposal can be essential to your comfort. Here’s how.

The smell of rotting food waste is one of the most common smells in a kitchen. Let’s face it, the smell is the general bad smell, and it often comes from your garbage disposal. If it’s been awhile since you cleaned your disposal and you’ve noticed a stinky odor coming from it, this article will help!

Why a Garbage Disposal Smells

Garbage disposals are used in many households across the world. They’re a convenient way to dispose of food waste and reduce the amount of garbage that would otherwise accumulate in your kitchen. Unfortunately, these appliances often emit an unpleasant odor that can be off-putting for some. Although it’s not a hard process to clean a smelly garbage disposal, certain things need to be done in order for it to stop smelling.

How to Clean a Smelly Garbage Disposal

Garbage disposals are great for waste disposal, but they can get really nasty if left for too long. Depending on what you put in the disposal, it can become infested with bacteria and make your kitchen smell awful. Here are a few simple steps to clean out your disposal:

  1. Place a lemon half in the disposal.
  2. Add ice to the disposal.
  3. Turn on the disposal.
  4. Add a cup of dish soap.
  5. Run water while the disposal is on.

Depending on the state of your disposal, you may find it useful to repeat these steps several times until the smell disappears.

Importance of Dish Soap

Dish soap helps break down fatty food wasted that gets stuck in your garbage disposal. If you have mistakenly sent oil or fatty substances like meat down your sink, it’s not the end of the world. Thanks to science, dish soap can make these substances disappear and stop clogging up your disposal and making your kitchen smell horrible.

When you pour dish soap down the drain, the fatty substances are attracted to the non-polar part of the soap while the polar part dissolves in water. This lifts the fat from the surfaces of your disposal and pipes to send the stinky fat down the drain, away from your home.

Conclusion: How to Clean a Smelly Garbage Disposal

Cleaning a garbage disposal can be a daunting thing, even for the most seasoned of homeowners. Plenty of food goes down the drain that you would rather not be left to rot in your sink. Use the five steps listed in this article as often as you need to. Unlike caustic cleaners, this method will not damage your pipes.

How to clean a smelly garbage disposal? At Custom Plumbing of Arizona, we are committed to helping you keep your home’s plumbing in excellent working condition. Get in touch with us today if you have a problem you can’t fix on your own.

Need help with your plumbing or want to ask us a question about your plumbing? Contact Custom Plumbing today!