What Can and Can’t Go Down a Garbage Disposer | Ask This Old House
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- Опубліковано 21 лис 2015
- Ask This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey explains what foods should and should not go into garbage disposers.
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What Can and Can’t Go Down a Garbage Disposer | Ask This Old House
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I learned from this video that if you ever need to reach your hand in, make sure you ask someone else to.
he was literally like- kevin, you do it. thanks, buddy. haha.
After telling him never to put your hand in
Should've done a demo with both the basic and the super disposal
Took me two days to clear a drain line after my wife sent two pints of cooked rice down the garbage disposer. Rented an industrial snake with spade bit to no avail, ended up cutting a foot long section out and used a shop vac and water hose. I still have nightmares.
Cutting out a section was unnecessary, all you needed to do is hold the vacuum on the drain, sealing it and it would suck the rice back into the wet/dry vac. If you have a double sink place a stopper in the second drain.
Lol. Man. You didn’t know what you were doing did you
@@michaelesposito2629 actually my dad is a master plumber of 40 year, grew up sweating pipe and clearing drains. The major issue was that it was a long drain line with a roof vent and I didn't know what the clog was untill I opened the line. I doubt I would have been able to suck two pints of ultra hydrated rice through 20 feet of cast iron. I'm pretty sure adding a clean out was my best bet.
Did she not run a lot of water with it? I’ve put down more than 2 pints of rice through my disposals before a number of times. We always run a lot of water during and behind it. Running the water for a while afterwards is key to prevent clogs.
Working with a master plumber you probably know this...share with your wife.
@@scallywag1716 Yes. I always run the water a bit after shutting off the disposal.
1:24 - "And you're using that because obviously you would never stick your hand down inside..."
2:50 - "Alright, can you reach your hand in there?"
I had a tenant once who would use the disposal in lieu of a garbage can. Would empty ALL the food waste from the dishes into the sink than call me when the disposal would lock up and/or the drain would stop up. After finding the food mess in the sink, I educated her that the disposal was not a substitute for the garbage can. No more problems.
Holy smokes ! Take that thing out and give her a stainless screen.
Yup, you know why she would rent her living space for the rest of her life....
Note: for grease, add dawn and some water to emulsify the oil. Then it flows freely. Dawn is the only dish washing soap that I have found which works.
"Never ever put your hand down in the disposer"
2:49
"allright can you put your hand down in there?"
This is such a nice and wholesome channel. Thank you sirs.
Thanks so much for the video, I'm international student and I have no idea how to use garbage disposal in the kitchen :)
I started out watching cars driving on the Audobon....now I am watching videos about garbage disposals...
I was watching the car chase from BULLITT. lol
Aw. I wanted to see the corn cob test.
We all did, lol
If you ever go to the home store and purchase a disposal, be sure to check and see if you also need to purchase the electrical pigtail for it as well. The disposals are sold without pigtails. And you identify the positive or black part of wiring by checking to see if it's smooth or ribbed. The smooth is the hot or black.
I love their set. It looks like the perfect above the garage workshop.
As many orange, lime, and lemon peels as possible. They make it smell nice.
Pooring grease down the drain? If it dosent clog your pipes it will clog the city pipes instead, this is a rising issue right now.
Then how does one dispose of oil/grease?
@@cooldude2245 First you can check if your city/region have any policy regarding this. Some areas provide bottles that you can fill up and leave to garbage recycling. If they don't provide anywhere to turn it in then let the grease cool a bit and pour it in a bottle and put it in your normal burnable trash. If it's solid grease you can also put it in your food waste bag, if you have one.
Previous comments talk about bacon grease ect. containing mostly water. It still solidifies in the pan does it not? That will cause blocked pipes even if if disappears from their drain. Like in artery's it's buildups over time that causes blocks not the singular product.
Cooldude 22 I just use a can to collect the garbage grease and stick it in the freezer. Keep it until it is near full and then toss it out as a solid with my regular trash (in a garbage bag, so it doesn’t melt and coat garbage can or unnecessarily gum up the trash truck).
@@cooldude2245 if it is only few spoonful, dump it in the trash can. Anymore you will want to pour them in a container then to the trash.
Happened to my dad. They had to dig up the whole front of the garage to clear the pipe out.
When cooking always keep empty jars in the kitchen & runs even a tiny funnel.
Once the grease cools off dump it into the jar, tighten the lid and either re-use till full or throw in trash.
if you have a septic system and don't have town sewer never use a garbage disposal it could end up costing you thousands
I've had both a septic and a garbage disposal for over 35 years. You need a little common sense. We have a compost pile for or the organic stuff. The little bits off the plate never gave us a problem.
Never put anything down a garbage disposal.
The disposal should be really for trace food matter incidental to dishwashing, not for _bulk_ leftovers. That should go into the trash can or compost. As mentioned, grease can be allowed to congeal and then thrown out (I've seen products made to do just that, congeal grease). As to keeping your kitchen/apartment from stinking up , the solution to that is moving the trash out of the kitchen more often.
I just take food straight to compost.
Well said. We scrape off any leftovers from our plates into the trash, and only use the disposal for small residue left on the plates when rinsing before putting them in the dishwasher. Always take out the trash daily.
If you throw stuff in the trash dont buy a disposal
Also that only applies to low end ones(because the low end ones have no surface area due to corrosion)
Had a plumber out to the house last year for something. He scoped my sanitary line from the yard. Had me come outside to look and said "do you eat eggs?" and proceeded to show me every egg shell from every egg i've ever eaten just chilling in pipe! They told me no more egg shells or coffee grounds. Seeing the shells in the pipe made me a believer. Now I scrape food into the trash and use RV toilet paper per recommendation for other issues in my pipes.
yep, same thing here. the plumber showed me on the camera all the egg shells in the main drain. caused me a nasty sewage backup. i had never heard that egg shells shouldn't go down the garbage disposal.
grease should not have been presented as a 'don't if you can avoid it'. grease is a never put down any drain. if it does not congeal and stick in your pipes, it will accumulate with your neighbors in the city system which leads to overflows or backups into homes and businesses.
then how do you get rid of grease ?
Zafer it should go out with the solid waste (trash). this can be done several ways, if a small amount let it be soaked up in some paper or other porous material, if a larger amount let it cool and solidify in a can or jar that is going to the trash
thanks for your quick reply :)
Bill on sN aawX sxxxxx. As s
grease keeps everything lubricated lol
Thank you
I was hoping the video would explain what should not go into the bigger Evo Excel disposer.
it will plug up it's just a matter of time
Interestingly enough, one thing I'm told you absolutely can't put into a garbage disposal is, wait for it ... popcorn seeds! I'm talking about the unpopped ones. Sometimes they might spill on your counter or even go down your drain, but my American mom says they can break the blades! Also, she told me you should never put potato peelings down a garbage disposal, since it can clog your drain! My Aunt Kendra had the idea of doing that on Thanksgiving one year, and she and her family spent hours trying to unclog the drain. That must've been a pain in the padded rear! It would be for me, since I can't see. And, if something has fallen down the drain that's not supposed to be there, when I put my hands down there to check and try to pull it out, I always make sure the garbage disposal is switched off! I've heard you can get hurt pretty badly if you have a run-in with a garbage disposal, since I bet it's sharp as a scalpal!
Thanks guys.
I used to had one of this. I removed it and and never let any waste go down the drain. I have a mesh that catches small food stuff. I never understood why people use them when you can throw away the garbage in a bin or compose it.
I don't see what's so hard to understand about the convenience they offer. Who wants to deal with cleaning gross food bits out of the bottom of the sink / drain trap after a big load of dishes? Then you have to either awkwardly carry the drain trap over to the trash can if you don't have one right under your sink or nearby, rinse it out, etc. Disposer solves all those problems. Rinse the sink and all the food bits down the drain, hit the grind button and move on with your life. I don't ever want to go back to not having a disposer in the sink after using one.
Unfortunately composting can be difficult for some. If you live in an apartment you don't have a yard. Some people are okay with vermicomposting in their home, but others are squeamish about worms.
@@uzi4u182I’m in Ontario, Canada and we have a developed composting program where a truck comes by every week to collect compost much like a garbage truck and recycling truck.
I am kind of thinking of getting one of these but honestly having to scrape stuff into a compost bin doesnt bother me that much, idk as you get older you deal with much nastier things like babies and toilet clogs so you stop caring.
I am mainly interested in what these things do to your pipes, like do the food bits and grease from the food eventually clog your drain pipes faster than if just water was going down the pipes?
The day after Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so I'm still mad at my holiday because he put potato skins down the drain and clogged it. So I spent several hours with him trying to fix our clogged plumbing.
And then Richard proceeds to use his hand to shove food down there...
+squid boy and didn't even pull the plug
Don't put your hand down there *puts hand down there* really moron? Are these guys really professionals lol?
Squid boy Richard isn't as stupid as you are making him to be,he's actually a professional, it states that just before the video starts
Uneasy BBJ don't you think that maybe garbage disposals are designed so that fingers can go down into the drain a few inches and won't be chopped off??
squid boy ♪ Dumb ways to die... ♪
Wow thanks
I know of some states where they are illegal..,.all that pulverized food going into the waste system either has to be filtered out and dumped or put back into the environment as a liquid....
Never understood the need for a garbage disposal. I guess its a upper middle class thing. I just use a mesh sink strainer and pour boiling hot water down the drain weekly.
It would prevent old food from giving off a horrible smell
I've seen tea herbs clog up disposals quite a bit.
great to know video.
Garbage disposals should be outlawed. Work maintenance at an apartment complex and see why.
Useful
I dumped a load of old pinto beans into the disposer and immediately both sides of the double sink were full of water--clogged. P-trap and pipes around it are free of clogs. I'm trying Green Gobbler Dissolve--is it safe to pour bear-boiling water into the PVC pipes and disposer?
holy crap richard changed since I've watched these episodes !
can you also show the top disposer too like you did this one thanks
:D
If it clatters the entire house down while it’s trying to shred something than its too hard, the low end models don’t shred bone, vegetables,etc only the “gunk off plates” or the gross stew in your fridge
They don’t have a good shredder
Il tubo di scarico trasparente è un'idea geniale! Grazie.
You dickhead it's called a P Trap
I have one but only use it after I wash the dishes an turn it on as the water and access food goes down the drain. I never purposely put food or grease down the disposal... that's what trash cans are for!
Good ToKnow.😀
how about cubed ginger slices?
never ever ever pur grease into any drain going into a septic or city water system
Can you POUR it?
What is the reason for only running cold water when using the disposal?
Garbage disposal, what a way to go!
Garbage disposal, meet So and So!
It rocks
Thanks for the video. I just removed mine because it broke, and I didn't have the money to hire a plumber or buy a new one, but I am a little concern of what happens when some small pieces of food went down the sink? would the food accumulate in the trap and clog the sink and pipes? thanks
Yes, get a mesh straining cover.
Can you put ground-up cabbage left over from making cabbage juice in the disposer?
Never had one, never will, especially with old cast iron pipes, treat them with kid gloves
I heard eggshells and coffee grounds are bad. But I do it all the time without a problem.
Our rule of thumb is, if you can grab it out of the sink....... grab it and throw in the trash, use the disposal as least as possible, and you won't gum up your pipes. Scrape the plate over the trash, and whats left may go into the sink.
Agree. The less that goes down, the less problems.
@1:25…”obviously you would never stick your hands down inside.”
@2:49...”Can you reach your hand in there?”
Oops 🫣
If you have grease or oil to put in the disposal, stir dish soap and water in it and break it down first.
I started off with rebar, so, in retrospect...
i have a very elementary question. why use one at all? like all my life i've had one and all my life i just throw that stuff in the garbage.
I must say it hurt when he threw that delicious avocado.
Avacado is gross.
Avocado is disgusting. What is wrong with people lol.
I pour any leftover grease in an empty glass jar, if hot let it cool some first, then toss it in the trash.
Nope we need that always gets my lol
The good home garbage disposals can grind egg shells fine enough to not clog drains and can grind small bones. If you are the kind of person that always puts egg shells down the disposal like me, get a good 3/4 hp or higher garbage disposal not cheap 1/3 hp one.
VERY surprised that he put his hand in the disposer even with the power off 😳
What about coffee grinds?
Okay, so I have a single sink with a disposal like their example. I just saw a bunch of people on Facebook griping at someone for pouring hot water down their garbage disposal. Is the cold water thing just while it's running? I can't only ever use cold water at my kitchen sink.
Hot water??? You can use hot water lmao don't put grease down there but hot water is totally fine??
Can coffee grounds be run down the disposal and through the drain?
Had a girlfriend in the U.S. had never used one of these (they don't exist in Europe). Jesus Jones... scared the life out of me.
Lmfao
How?
On keto diet your suppose 2 eat the grease. Check it out.esp. bacon grease, use 4 cooking from stored bottles of bacon grease.
When I was in college I found out that putting an entire head of lettuce down a disposal at once is a poor idea. It ground it all right, but then it stuck in the trap. PITA.
what about a commercial one?
Nice to see and hear proper terminology is being used: It is a DISPOSER, not a "disposal".
I tell all my customers "Don't put ANYTHING down the disposer". Scrape the dishes into the trash. The small amount of food stuff left on the dirty dishes "probably" wont go down the drain and cause a stoppage you will be calling me back to unstop for a large fee. They then usually ask "Why then do builders even put in disposers"? I tell then "The buyer 'expects' to see one when walking the new home.
Don't ever plunge an 'under mounted' sink unless it has been properly braced under the counter. The extreme additional force you exert pushing down with the plunger can cause the sink to detach from the countertop.
Follow me for more useless plumbing tips.
Ok so I had some ground turkey in a pot on the stove left out overnight. The next morning I threw the food in the trash. It was at least 1 full cup of ground turkey. My boyfriend said I should have thrown it down the garbage disposal. It’s to the sewer, not a septic tank. But I just don’t see why he is so adamant about me not throwing it in the trash. Am I tripping?
No, your idea is better. I just take food waste straight to compost outside, which I think is the best solution.
I dont really see the need for a garbage disposer, our house had one installed but had it removed, i just throw what ever in the trash
It will prevent nasty food smells building up in a matter of days
What if I mix the grease with a lot of soap?
It's better idea to say goodbye to the garbage disposer and say hello to the compost heap. Another great solution is to have the disposer in the backyard by the compost heap and use it as a "composting companion" by grinding the food waste into a bucket and pour it into the compost heap after grinding.
Western Massachusetts Elevators I love my garbage disposal
Western Massachusetts Elevators screw composting I shove it down my garbage disposal
Don't use it as a trash can and it will run just fine for a long time.
What it needed for then?
@@ubobcat I run it when little bits of food are in the sink. But everything gets scraped/wiped into the trashcan if I can. There's no point in wasting water to flush trash into the city's can.
I have a 1 1/4 hp American standard dispose
Do get your grammar correct
So much for composting...
I composted and ended up with mice
A town I lived in previously had it set up where the solids from water treatment were composted, which was nice because I lived in an apartment.
First time I saw one was in Florida at my grandma's as a kid. I was fascinated by it. You would never find one in New York. They are actually illegal.
That was actually overturned in the 70s so that means they would be legal to install and you
@@AdamsCarWashVids maybe, I don't know. But either way they just don't exist here, legal or not.
i put a ipod mini into the disposer
What about coffee grounds?
Arent you supposed to put grease into a trash liner and throw it into the garbage can?
Garbage disposal=smoothie maker
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What about rice & pasta?
i tried putting aluminium cans in mine and it worked fine.
Never do this at home
Super weird, 1:57, the guy put the corn husk in a weird way to his nose and was interrupted by the guy in orange.
Trying to be funny
I would never ever own one of these things. Number one dangerous number to bacteria collector number three jamming up. All I ever use is a basket type sink strainer with a disposable garbage bag under the sink works fine for me. No fuss, no mess, and most importantly, no disgusting, bacteria and germs.🤮
2:50 Never ever put your hand in there. Make your dumb coworker put his hand in there.
Your fingers can go down the garbage disposal but celery can not
Somebody please show this to William Osman
Who puts full scraps down the drain? That blows my mind lol
I do. Never had much of a problem. We have a basic gd though. It has a tough time with (as they said) chicken skin and for whatever reason, the ends of anything citrus.
3:45
How did they get a camera inside the disposer?!
+IAmNotAFunguy the dishwasher drain.
I throw everything down there and it's been okay for 30 yrs. It's a 1/3 hp. Uh oh....I hear a noise.
I dropped a plastic fork down my disposal just for fun, it disappeared in seconds... I definitely won’t make a habit out of that, one should stick to biodegradable food waste down these. Everything but the grease goes down it including bones. It’s definitely not your average builder grade garbage disposal...
It's weird how this stuff needs to be taught - I mean obviously it does, everything does, but still lol - just seems so obvious that if you can't smash it to goo, don't put it in the garbage disposal - and never, ever put grease/fat down any drain.
Also, no rice.
Food scraps = compost in my house, seems like a waste washing it all down the drain.
People who don't use the disposer usually just chuck it in the trash, then it goes to a landfill. That REALLY seems like a waste.
This video feels incomplete. Where's the modified 500hp Binford 7200 garburator?