To insinkerate, or not to insinkerate?

[SemiMike]

I've seen two arguments here:

1. Don't put a lot of food waste down the insinkerator drain - it just contributes to overloading the water/sewage treatment system.

2. Put all your food waste down the insinkerator drain - it will end up as useful compost after treatment, and also not add to landfill overload.

Thoughts?

[TexaninVA]

I've seen two arguments here:

1. Don't put a lot of food waste down the insinkerator drain - it just contributes to overloading the water/sewage treatment system.

2. Put all your food waste down the insinkerator drain - it will end up as useful compost after treatment, and also not add to landfill overload.

Thoughts?

Seems to me the more you put into the drain, the more the likelihood of (eventually) gumming things up. We just "insinkerate" what we can't get rid of any other way.

One thing to keep in mind ... never put stringing veggies in there ... eg alfalfa sprouts, or whatever. It locks it up and won't drain which means you get to disassemble and clear it.

[CalcTeacher]

After our Great Potato Peel Debacle caused by yours truly on Thanksgiving Day 2012 that resulted in an emergency plumber call to the tune of $700 (ironically they were Yukon GOLD potatoes) we put as little as possible if anything at all down our garbage disposal...and this is advice directly from the plumber. So everything gets scraped into the trash and just the crumbs/residue left from scraping go down the disposal. ALSO we we've been told by several builders over the years when we would do the walk-through of our homes that you should never run the hot water while you're running the disposal (it can mess up the seal or something over time).

By the way, so as not to cause anyone heart failure, that $700 plumber bill was in Northern VA...

And like another poster said, if you insist on putting anything down your disposal it most definitely should not be anything stringy (like asparagus) and never put pasta down or potatoes because of the gummy issue.

[CFrance]

Also, I've noticed the builder-quality disposal in our spec Begonia is not as strong as the one we have in MI (also builder, and 16 years old), which would grind up your mother-in-law if you could get her to stand still long enough.

[senior citizen]

After our Great Potato Peel Debacle caused by yours truly on Thanksgiving Day 2012 that resulted in an emergency plumber call to the tune of $700 (ironically they were Yukon GOLD potatoes) we put as little as possible if anything at all down our garbage disposal...and this is advice directly from the plumber. So everything gets scraped into the trash and just the crumbs/residue left from scraping go down the disposal. ALSO we we've been told by several builders over the years when we would do the walk-through of our homes that you should never run the hot water while you're running the disposal (it can mess up the seal or something over time).

By the way, so as not to cause anyone heart failure, that $700 plumber bill was in Northern VA...

And like another poster said, if you insist on putting anything down your disposal it most definitely should not be anything stringy (like asparagus) and never put pasta down or potatoes because of the gummy issue.

Excellent post........ I can relate.

We've owned many homes and many did have the disposal in the sink.
Nothing but headaches....... I rarely used them. Hubby would.

When we got our newest sink......after a bit, I eventually had the disposal disconnected and removed. I'd much prefer to put it in the trash. It's usually cold up here anyway.......so it freezes in the garbage.

Younger relatives and friends do a compost pile........with their veggie peels, etc., etc.

I haven't met one person who liked their insinkerator, thus I could not recommend one............but, to each his own.

The home we rented in THE VILLAGES for month, was a beautiful designer home, but the sink had a terrible smell from the insinkerator.

[rjm1cc]

We put almost everything (no grease) into ours up North. Potato skins, as mentioned above, are also bad for us, so some times we get a back up and have to use the plunger or some drain cleaner. Fortunately no plumber but I have had to do a little pluming work under the sink due to the poor angles of the pipes (probably the cause of our problem). Probably best to minimize its use but I don't think we will change our habits.

[ilovetv]

It's about horsepower. You need more horsepower and higher RPMs to blow the stuff out of there before it collects and globs into a clog.

Think about horsepower and RPMs instead of ruling out 99.5% of the things you need to dispose of instead of having it rot and stink in the wastebasket or trash can.

Most contractor-grade garbage disposals don't have much horsepower. Once a knowing plumber told me this it made all the sense in the world, and we've had no problems since getting one of these formerly called the Bone Crusher:

Waste King Sinkmaster garbage disposals, food waste disposers (http://www.plumbingsupply.com/disposer.html)

[senior citizen]

Also, I've noticed the builder-quality disposal in our spec Begonia is not as strong as the one we have in MI (also builder, and 16 years old), which would grind up your mother-in-law if you could get her to stand still long enough.


Is that you honey??????????????? Shame.
(She's visiting me)

[CFrance]

Is that you honey??????????????? Shame.
(She's visiting me)

:a20::a20:

[dotti105]

I agree with the horespower comment. I put everything down my disposal and after 6 yrs a leak developed under the sink. After the mess was cleaned up our son, who works for a large plumbing supply company, brought over a new super high power disposal and installed it for us. Took about 30 minutes and that thing is amazing. After seeing the difference I am surprised that our original one lasted as long as it did.

I am a big fan! But like CalcTeacher, I learned the hard way about potato peels......A lesson I won't forget!!!

[Schaumburger]

I use my garbage disposal sparingly; I put crumbs in there and that is about it. Does anyone have suggestions about what to put into the disposal to prevent odors? Thanks in advance

[Blessed2BNTV]

I use my garbage disposal sparingly; I put crumbs in there and that is about it. Does anyone have suggestions about what to put into the disposal to prevent odors? Thanks in advance

We use lemons. Here are some options:

Clean Your Garbage Disposal - wikiHow (http://m.wikihow.com/Clean-Your-Garbage-Disposal)

[Parker]

I have always had garbage disposals, and have used them without incidents or odors forever! Having said that, I don't put down potato peels or stringy veggies. I would not voluntarily do without one. Ever! You folks who do must be very hardy people.:shocked:

[mulligan]

I believe I have isolated two problems with the odors from the builder's disposals. The interior is NOT stainless steel, and the corroded surfaces harbor odor causing bacteria. In addition, the dishwasher drain is NOT routed through the disposal the way so many were "up north", where the draining water would flush out the disposal. They claim that this is to lower the noise level, but I suspect the caustic dishwasher soap was quickly rotting the lower quality units. Specify stainless if you have to replace, and some of the issues will go away. I always used a 3/4HP unit, and the instructions stated : break steak bones in half for best results. That seems more powerful than the units in new homes here.

[CFrance]

One thing you can do to clean your disposal. Fill the sink fully with warm, very sudsy water, as warm as your hand can stand. Turn the disposal on, then pull out the sink stopper. The sudsy water will swirl down the disposal furiously, cleaning the unit. OF COURSE be careful not to put your hand in the disposal.

Another thing I do is take paper towels (disposal off) and wipe off the underside of the rubber collar. Stuff gets on that and turns black and slimy.

[billethkid]

builders usually put in 1/2 hp disposals....we always spec one full hp and it does make a very noticeable difference in performance.

A couple of tips...small batches and always run plenty of water after the grind...let the disposer run with water into it for 15 plus seconds after the grind.

Just like you clean your toilet, you do have to clean the removeavle parts of a disposer. Especially the rubber flapper thingy in the opening. The better units have a removeable thingy. The others are permanent. And once you see the accumulation on the bottom of it one wonders what people do with the ones that do not remove. When it is out I also scrub the interior neck of the disposer with a bottle brush/old tooth brush.

No odors...no problems.

btk

[CFrance]

builders usually put in 1/2 hp disposals....we always spec one full hp and it does make a very noticeable difference in performance.

A couple of tips...small batches and always run plenty of water after the grind...let the disposer run with water into it for 15 plus seconds after the grind.

Just like you clean your toilet, you do have to clean the removeavle parts of a disposer. Especially the rubber flapper thingy in the opening. The better units have a removeable thingy. The others are permanent. And once you see the accumulation on the bottom of it one wonders what people do with the ones that do not remove. When it is out I also scrub the interior neck of the disposer with a bottle brush/old tooth brush.

No odors...no problems.

btk

See my post #15 above. We never have any odors either, but you have to remember to clean that underside with soapy paper towels before running the sink full of soapy water through the disposal while it's running.

[perrjojo]

If you you follow the instructions on how to use your disposal, you will never have any problems. Yup, that's what that little book that comes with the disposal is for. :1rotfl:
Also a cleaning tip I use: put ice cubes in the disposal, then sprinkle in baking soda. Pour about a cup of vinegar in...slowly run water while running the disposal. This is a great way to clean and deodorize . The ice cubes actually sharpen the blades.

[gomoho]

Use mine all the time - never had a problem - well, except once with those darned potato peels at Thanksgiving.