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Ever since garbage disposals have come into existence, cleaning the kitchen has never been easier.
Not only they’ve made the sinks cleaner, but they’ve also made our kitchens almost free of waste. But it can be complicated if these disposals begin to stink. It makes it unbearable for a person to stand close by the kitchen sink.
Thus, knowing how to get rid of stinky garbage disposal smell has become very important and mandatory for us to keep these horrid odors out of your kitchen.
People who have experienced such foul odor coming from their kitchen garbage disposals know that this smell ruins the whole impression and beauty. In case you didn’t know, garbage disposal odor comes essentially from the food particles that are left unprocessed in your garbage disposal.
Such particles keep on piling up and release an unpleasant smell. These rotten stuck food particles also promote the growth of bacteria in your kitchen disposal. It further worsens the situation and adds more to the already terrible smell. The reason for all this is that despite the efficiency of your garbage disposal, it cannot dispose of all the food that gets trapped in its blades.
So if you want to save yourself from working in such an untidy and smelly environment, you must know how to eliminate the stinky garbage disposal smell. However, before we proceed further to some home remedies for this and the preventative measures that you must take, it’s essential to discuss the root cause of the unbearable smell that comes from the garbage disposals.
Reasons for the Odor Emerging from the Garbage Disposal
If you didn’t know these reasons before, you’d be surprised to know what makes your garbage disposal smell. It can be something as small as the garlic that you tossed into the garbage disposal, and it wasn’t processed and disposed of properly.
On the other hand, it could be something big, such as the food remains that start piling up in the drain. The thing is that you can’t rule out any possible cause when it comes to the odor emerging from the garbage disposal. The best thing you can do is take the necessary measures to ensure that all your worries about getting rid of the stinky garbage disposal smell are resolved.
Some of the common reasons behind your garbage disposal odor are listed below.
1. Inappropriate Use of the Garbage Disposal
If you don’t run the garbage disposal properly whenever you use it to dispose of the kitchen waste, some of the food particles get left behind and begin to rot in the sink drain, causing the foul odor. This food residue keeps on piling up in the garbage disposal, producing more and more smelly bacteria.
2. Blocked Sink Pipes
All the waste that you toss into the garbage disposal to be processed does not get processed entirely. Some of it gets stuck in the garbage disposal, and some get stuck somewhere down the sink drains.
These particles in the drain also get hardened there, causing the blockage of pipes. This blockage does not allow the kitchen waste to be appropriately disposed of, and because of that, it begins to smell. So it’s not just your garbage disposal that’s smelly, it’s also your drain pipe that stinks.
3. Improper Cleaning
Some people complain that even if they keep a proper check on their garbage disposal’s cleanliness, it continues to smell. It makes a lot of people confused about how to get rid of the stinky garbage disposal smell. The reason behind these complaints is that you must not be cleaning the way you should. It is why the smell persists. There’s no use of this improper cleaning because it will leave the food particles in the corners of the drainage pipe, eventually rotting and producing that uncompromising smell.
To make sure that you carry out the kitchen cleaning process the way you’re supposed to so that you can get rid of the foul smell coming from your garbage disposal, now we’ll discuss some home remedies which are not only comfortable but have also proven to eliminate the odors that emit from the garbage disposal.
Easy & Proven Home Remedies
It’s always good to know that you can solve something with the available products at your home.
Not only it’s a cost-effective way to treat something but also a very convenient method to overcome something that has been bothering you for a while, like the displeasing garbage disposal odor.
Moreover, these remedies that we’ll discuss do not need anything extra for which you would have to go to the market to make a purchase. Let’s discuss how to eliminate the stinky garbage disposal smell with some of the best home remedies that can neutralize the foul garbage disposal smell.
1- The Use of Lemons
Why would you worry about an unpleasant smell when nature has given you a perfect remedy to eliminate it? It is the time when you finally put good old lemons to use.
It has been noted that citrus scents are beneficial when it comes to getting rid of stinky smells. These citrus fruits like lemons, fresh lime, oranges and grapefruits have a natural tendency to eliminate the reeking
odor.
To use lemons for this purpose, cut them up into small pieces and toss them in when you are running the garbage disposal and let it run for about ten to fifteen seconds. There, lemons will fight the germs and cut the dirt collected in the drain pipes and the garbage disposal.
Also, lemons will replace the foul smell with its fresh scent. It happens to be the most cost-effective way to get rid of the stinky garbage disposal smell.
2. The Dual Action of Ice Cubes
If using lemons wasn’t enough for you or didn’t work for you for any reason, then there’s another easy way in store for you to solve your problem regarding how to get rid of the stinky garbage disposal smell. As it turns out, using ice cubes can treat the odor emitting from your garbage disposal.
All you have to do is dispense a few ice cubes down the garbage disposal and run it for about ten to fifteen seconds till you believe the ice has been crushed. However, ice is not a deodorizer like lemons. So ice cubes can indeed eliminate the most pungent stench coming from your kitchen garbage disposal, but it will not leave a fresh and pleasant smell behind like citrus fruits do.
Still, you do get another added advantage from ice. That additional benefit is that the ice cubes sharpen your garbage disposal blades, making the unit more useful for future use. Moreover, if you care to add some salt in this cleaning process, it would only enhance the whole procedure’s effect.
It is because salt happens to be a natural disinfectant. That’s why salt will not only clean the garbage disposal but will also eradicate any bacteria that might be hiding in the drain pipes and the garbage disposal.
3- The Matchless Combo of Baking Soda and Vinegar
It is another straightforward home remedy for which you won’t have to make any extra effort. Baking soda is a ubiquitous product, and everyone uses it for one purpose or another. As it turns out, one of the many benefits of baking soda is its power to clean the garbage disposal effectively.
Considering that baking soda can be found in every kitchen, you don’t have to worry about getting rid of the stinky garbage disposal smell anymore. You will see how easy it is to make your trash disposal stench free with baking soda.
All you have to do is take one cup of baking soda and one cup of distilled white vinegar and pour the combination down the drain while the disposal unit is on. Even if, for some reason, you’ve run out of baking soda, then you can also perform this home remedy by just using vinegar. Just mix white vinegar with cold water and pour it down the garbage disposal.
There happens to be another way of using baking soda. And that way is with lemons. It would create a solid defense against even the most pungent garbage disposal stench. When you combine these two, you get a powerful odor-free garbage disposal cleaner, but with lemon’s fantastic properties, like its fresh smell and bacteria cleansing powers.
4- Bleach the Odor Away
You must’ve noticed there are quite a few easy and cheap solutions to your worries about how to get rid of the stinky garbage disposal smell. Using bleach is another beautiful remedy to clear the foul odor coming from your garbage disposal and diffusing in your kitchen atmosphere. Bleach is also very useful for dislodging all the stuck food particles that cause your garbage disposal to smell. All you have to do is buy a bottle of bleach from any home improvement store and pour it down the garbage disposal. Not only will it clear the garbage disposal, but also the drain pipes will be washed out. The best advantage of this home remedy is that bleach is also an excellent deodorizer that leaves a fresh smell behind, giving you a sense of cleanliness.
Some Preventative Measures to Keep Your Garbage Disposal from Stinking
Now let’s talk about how to keep your garbage disposal from stinking so that you may never have to use these home remedies that are a solution to all your concerns about how to get rid of the stinky garbage disposal smell.
People usually focus on the kitchen’s visible areas’ cleanliness, like the countertops and cabinets and the sink. Still, if your garbage disposal is not adequately taken care of, you must expect it to start stinking at any time.
Sure, you can use air fresheners for the time being, but that’s not going to relieve you from the stench for good. Here are a few preventative tips that you must make a part of your daily kitchen cleaning process.
- You’ve got to start with a dish wand. Lather it up with a reasonable amount of dishwashing soap and clean all the parts of the garbage disposal that can be cleaned easily and the ones that are visible to you.
- Make sure you clean the joining parts of the sink and garbage disposal. It is the most convenient place for the mold to grow and a perfect trap for the food particles to be left behind.
- Now comes the hard part. You were cleaning the pipes so that food residue doesn’t rot stinky and begin to smell. If not cleaned, this situation will block the lines and will give rise to the odor. So for this, you would have to run hot water and pour down some bleach.
Using these tips at least once a week will keep you from thinking about getting rid of the stinky garbage disposal smell. It would be best if you kept in mind that you must make sure that you leave the water running for some extra time
whenever you’re running your garbage disposal.
It runs down all the stuck particles and clears the garbage disposal of all the waste that you’ve tossed in it. For better results, you can also plug the drain in your sink and fill it up with at least 3 to 5 inches of water, add vinegar and dish soap in it, then unplug the drain and turn the garbage disposal.
When the built pressure would release, it will take down everything along with it, giving you nothing but a clean kitchen sink, garbage disposal and drain pipes.