8 Things to Never Put Down Your Garbage Disposal
- Bones. They’ll just keep spinning around and around with the blades. And if you’re lucky enough to get them down, they definitely won’t make it down the drain pipes.
- Celery. The fibrous strings tend to tangle around your disposal’s blades. This same rule applies to asparagus and corn husks.
- Coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are deceptive. They appear to go down easy, but really they’re going to pile up and cause a sludgy, sediment-like mess in your drain.
- Egg shells. There’s a bit of argument on this one. Some people say they’re totally safe for the disposal and actually help to sharpen your disposal’s blades; while others believe the shells’ membrane lining can stick to the sides of the disposal and wrap around the shredder, wreaking lots of havoc.
- Fruit pits. Have you ever tried to cut through a peach pit or avocado seed? That’s just not going to happen, and it will ruin your blades.
- Grease. Grease and oil might not even make it into the disposal and will likely clog up your pipes instead.
- Pasta. This one surprised me! Spaghetti, ziti, linguine, fusilli—they expands when exposed to water, even after you’ve fully cooked it. So whether you have a garbage disposal or not, you shouldn’t dump it down the drain, where it’ll swell and either fill the disposal trap or cause even bigger problems. Ditto for rice.
- Potato peels. They can cause a soupy mess in your disposal down the road—even if you think you can get away with dumping them down the drain from time to time. The same goes for other starchy vegetables and beans.
