If your garbage disposal is starting to smell a little funky, you can easily clean it in minutes. Keep reading to find out how.
For more ways to keep your house tidy, check out all of our cleaning posts.
I always say you have to clean the things that clean your things. In the kitchen, that means cleaning your dishwasher. It also means cleaning your sink.
When people clean the sink, they usually wash the actual basin. They make sure to wash away any food residue each evening.
But, people forget to clean the garbage disposal. That’s where all the little bits of food go and accumulate. If you don’t clean it from time to time, it starts to smell pretty terrible, both from the top of your sink and under the sink where your garbage disposal actually is.
Luckily, though, cleaning your garbage disposal is so easy. It takes two household items, which you probably already have at home, and just a couple of minutes of your time. Keep reading to find out what to do.
The garbage disposal is just one of the things that people forget that they need to clean. There are others, though, like the top of your refrigerator and below your cabinets.
We have a great list of things people forget to clean in the kitchen. To make sure you’re cleaning everything, check that list.
How To Deep Clean A Garbage Disposal
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Turn Off The Power And Clean The Splash Guard
Before you do anything, turn off the power to your garbage disposal. This is absolutely for safety reasons. You don’t want to stick your hand down a garbage disposal that has the power turned on. I repeat, turn off the power.
When the power is off, put some dish soap onto a rag or paper towel and hand wash the plastic splash guard of the garbage disposal.
Make sure that when you’re cleaning the splash guard, you clean the top and the underside. When food is ground up, the particles can flick back up and get caught in the underside, so you want to make sure you’re cleaning that out as well.
You may also want to reach down to the bottom of the garbage disposal and remove any large food pieces in there.
Pour Baking Soda Down The Disposal
Baking soda is a great way to clean the odors in your garbage disposal. So, measure a half cup of baking soda and pour it down the disposal.
Make sure that it actually gets down to the bottom and doesn’t get caught in the splash guard.
Also, make sure that you’re using baking soda and not baking powder. People tend to confuse these sometimes, so I just wanted to remind you to double check the packaging.
Pour Distilled White Vinegar Down The Disposal
Distilled white vinegar is a great cleaning product to naturally clean and break down grease. You want to make sure that you’re using distilled white vinegar, not apple cider vinegar, which is usually used in cooking.
So, measure out a half cup of distilled white vinegar and pour it down the garbage disposal.
When you do this, it will cause a reaction with the baking soda and start to bubble.
If you have kids, this is a really fun time to invite them into the process because they’ll love to see the foaming effect.
Leave the sink alone for about 20 minutes. This gives the baking soda and vinegar enough time to clean and deodorize the garbage disposal.
Run Warm Water Down The Garbage Disposal
After about 20 minutes, run warm tap water down the garbage disposal. Let the water run for about three minutes. You just wanna make sure that it’s rinsing away all of the baking soda and vinegar residue.
You don’t have to run the disposal while you do this.
When it’s done, you can safely turn your garbage disposal back on.
Deep Cleaning A Garbage Disposal: Frequently Asked Questions
A good rule of thumb is to do this every month. But, households that use it often should deep clean it twice a month.
If you remember to run cold water down the disposal every time you use it, this will help keep it clean between deep cleans.
We recommend not ever touching the garbage disposal under your sink. My dad tried to clean his once and ended up ruining it and needing to replace it. So, we advise against that.
If you do think the system itself needs attention, we suggest contacting a professional.
We cannot stress this enough: Turn off your garbage disposal before you clean it. Many homes have a circuit breaker that’s easily accessible to homeowners. In our home, it’s in the garage, although yours may be somewhere different.
Our builder labeled all of our circuits so we know exactly which one is the garbage disposal. Flip that to the off position. If your circuit breaker works just like ours, that will turn off a light.
After you deep clean your garbage disposal, go back to your circuit breaker and flip that switch to on (which should re-illuminate the light, again if it’s like ours).
If you’re unsure how to do this, google your exact circuit breaker model and you should find accurate instructions.
More Deep Cleaning In The Kitchen:
The garbage disposal isn’t the only item in your kitchen that you should deep clean. You should also deep clean your refrigerator and deep clean your dishwasher.
Click both of those links to find out how to do that.
Have you cleaned your garbage disposal? Let us know how it went in the comments.