Author |
Message |
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 6:31 pm
It's good to know officially! I don't put grease down my disposal either.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 7:43 pm
Actually I wouldn't put grease down it either, or cornhusks or big artichoke leaves, stuff like that.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 8:14 pm
Be most cautious of potato pealings. They can be mean. Stopped up my disposal one Thanksgiving.
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Abby7
Member
07-17-2002
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 9:12 pm
Another thing that's bad to put in your disposal is celery. The strings in celery stems can wrap around the blades and flywheel and cause the disposal to jam. (who knew! so much to say about garbage. same thing if you google "poaching an egg". don't ask. lol)
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 10:15 pm
Potato peels are a GIANT no-no for garbage disposals. It you are doing it, stop it NOW. Jujugarbagedawg

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Abby7
Member
07-17-2002
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 10:24 pm
you didn't say please, jugar! (i'm doing my part. i just got back from painting "please" on all stop signs within 3 blocks from me.)
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 10:25 pm
LOL, Denise, my sisters mil, stopped up the sink every holiday, birthday, and weekly family dinner with potato peels. Didn't matter how many times she did it, the guys standing over her telling her not to do it and her "ok" or the scowls they gave her when she finally did it, every single time it'd happen.
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:53 am
Don't you just hate those rude stop signs?
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 1:06 am
I had a friend who always insisted it was ok to scoop the cat box and dump the "scoopings" into the toilet and flush. I couldn't convince her but when her toilet backed up the plumber convinced her.. especially with clumping litter. Since I have managed to kill a couple of disposals, not with kindness or peelings but with disuse, when I'm at my brother's at Thanksgiving, I just check with my SIL as to what she wants put in her disposal, same with recycle and trash compactor.
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 2:52 am
I love my trash compacter. I put everything in it. Is there stuff you're not supposed to put in it? Mine's falling apart but I got it at a garage sale about 12 years ago for $50 so I think I got my money out of it.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 3:00 am
I think where they live some stuff must go into the proper recycle bin, stuff that they used to throw in the compater.
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 3:13 am
Much to my chagrin, they don't recycle here as the costs for recycling are higher than not.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 5:44 am
knew about the celery found out about the potato peels at Thanksgiving right before company came! I hated my trash compactor! dh LOVED to compact everything 'we don't need to take the trash out yet, it's not full...see......' then he would compact it so much that it was then to heavy to take out!!!! 
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Dlmmo
Member
11-20-2003
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 6:14 am
Beware of mashed potatoes. One Thanksgiving we stopped up Mom's sink and the plumber said it was the mashed potatoes. I blame it on her stuffing, the stuffing is so good - no one ate the mashed potatoes they put on their plate.
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 10:44 am
Okay, what do the potatoes do to the disposal? I don't have one, always ask dil what she wants or doesn't want put in her disposal, and therefore knew about celery and grease, but I thought it was good to put egg shells down them occassionally to sharpen the blades.
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Twinkie
Member
09-24-2002
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 10:57 am
Gracie, I've always heard that about egg shells also.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 11:11 am
I heard rice is bad to put down the disposal.
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Dlmmo
Member
11-20-2003
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 11:43 am
TIP: How to Avoid Clogs and Slow Draining Situations Avoid the Following: There are a few things to avoid in using your sink and garbage disposal to help reduce chances of clogs or slow draining. Do not grind up potato peelings. They will form a starchy paste similar to mashed potatoes when ground up and will surely clog your drain. Do not put coffee grounds or eggshells into your disposal. They create very tiny granular waste that will stick to any sludge in the pipe and quickly create a clog. Do the Following: Maintain your disposal by regularly grinding up pieces of lemon peel and ice cubes. Avoid odors by also treating your disposal every month with a combination of a couple of handfuls of baking soda and a half cup of vinegar. Let that set in the disposal hopper with the unit turned off. After it's done foaming, rinse it down the drain with running water. link
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Glenn
Member
07-05-2003
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:04 pm
Honestly, garbage disposals are a nice convenience but a bad idea long term. See above post about what not to put in a disposal. The absolute key to putting anything in a disposal is having a large volume of water from start to finish as you are grinding something and to never fill the disposal up with food particles and then try to grind it all up. It will not allow the proper amount of water to flush the ground up particles out of the disposal and down the drain. What goes into the disposal will go directly to your local sewage treatment plant where it adds to the load of what are typically overburdened facilities. The solids that are not broken down by the aerobic process are then loaded into a tanker truck and spread on the surface of pastures. If you are connected to a private septic system, you will later pay to have these solids pumped from your tank and hauled off. Best place to put your food particles is a compost pile. Even placing food particles in the trash and having them go to your local landfill causes fewer problems than sending it through the sewer system to the treatment plant. This was a public service announcement and you may now return to your regular program 
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:06 pm
Rice, I assume, has the same effect as the mashed potatoes then, because they are both starchy. So do the ice cubes sharpen the blades? The baking soda-vinegar solution is good for cleaning several appliances, like your coffeemaker or oven. Put your coffee grounds on some newspaper and let them dry, then spread them under your rose bushes. eta: Good idea, Glenn
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Hermione69
Member
07-24-2002
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:08 pm
Okay Glenn-- If you have a broken garbage disposal, is it hard to just have it taken out as opposed to having it fixed? Mine broke a few months ago and now my sink doesn't drain as well. I'm debating whether I should put the money into getting it fixed or if I should just have it removed.
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Glenn
Member
07-05-2003
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:16 pm
Assuming you own versus rent, remove it and some minor piping changes will be needed. This would still cost less than replacing the disposal. Materials for the piping changes maybe $20 versus a new disposal of $100 or more.
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:24 pm
Urgrace, it cost me good money to find out that you never ever put pasta in the garbage disposal. I do put eggshells in because I heard about the sharpening. I also heard a few ice cubes will do that also and using the ice with the water off can even clean out some of the gunk. I don't put much in mine anymore. It's always been a pain in the butt since some less-than-intelligent person put it on the wrong side of the sink.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:29 pm
Hermie...did you push the reset button? <runs out>
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Hermione69
Member
07-24-2002
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:31 pm
Uhhhhh.... there's a reset button?
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