How to Make Homemade Garbage Disposal Cleaner: Follow These Effective Ways 

Kitchen garbage disposals are one of the smartest inventions we’ve come to see that has made working in the kitchen and disposing of kitchen waste very easy.

But since everything requires maintenance to work efficiently, garbage disposals also need at least a monthly cleaning, and they begin to stink. The foul odor that emits from garbage disposal can be a big distraction in the kitchen.

Why Do Garbage Disposals Smell?

Design for grinding the discarded food and waste stuff and disposing of it. Even though you try hard, you end up disposing of items you aren’t supposed to in the first place, and this becomes a mistake you will soon come to regret. Even when you turn on the water while you turn the garbage disposal on, some food gets left behind from getting processed and begins to rot in the garbage disposal. At times, this would lead to the garbage disposal clogging, especially if you toss in the wrong stuff to dispose of.

Keeping Your Garbage Disposal Clean

Knowing that avoiding the maintenance of garbage disposal can lead to a stinky kitchen, it is best to clean them often and keep them deodorized. The good news is that keeping your garbage disposal clean is not very hard or costly. There are significant and recommended ways that can ensure the cleanliness of your garbage disposal. It is why you must’ve seen those garbage disposal cleaner tablets in many kitchens. Further, in this article, we’ll discuss how to make homemade garbage disposal cleaner to keep your garbage disposal clean and smelling fresh. These homemade tricks make the regular cleaning of garbage disposal very easy, allowing you to avoid any stinking buildup and smelly bacteria in the drain pipes.

How to Clean Your Garbage Disposal

You can start by following the methods mentioned below at least once a week to keep your garbage disposal clean and odorless.

Method 1: Toss at least 8 to 12 ice cubes into your garbage disposal, start running the water in a relaxed setting and then turn the garbage disposal on until the ice you had tossed earlier is cleared. This easy trick will release all the stuck food particles, break up any grease or oily buildup in your garbage disposal, and the ice cubes will also sharpen the blades of the garbage disposal grinder. If you add rock salt to this method, it will also enhance the effect. But if you don’t have any rock salt, this method is acceptable without it.

Method 2: You can make a homemade paste by mixing baking soda and water. Use a small scrub brush or an old toothbrush for scrubbing the rubber flaps around the garbage disposal.

Method 3: Plug your kitchen sink and fill it with about 3 to 5 inches of water. Add a squirt of dishwashing liquid and a cup of vinegar into it. Leave it for a few minutes and then unplug the drain. This easy technique will also clean the garbage disposal to the drain pipes.

The above mentioned simple techniques might not be enough in some cases. That’s why now we’ll discuss how to make homemade garbage disposal cleaner with some comfortable and eco-friendly practices so that you can use them whenever in need to keep your garbage disposal fresh and clean. These techniques are so effective that their effect can easily last for a month even.

Making Garbage Disposal Bombs

Garbage disposal bombs are the most effective technique that caters to your needs of cleaning your garbage disposal. This method is the answer to all your questions regarding how to make homemade garbage disposal cleaner. It’s easy, powerful, and very cost-effective. Here’s what you’ll need to make your garbage disposal bombs:

• One and a half cups of baking soda
• One teaspoon dishwashing liquid
• Two teaspoon sea salt
• 20 to 50 drops of any essential oils. It’s best to use citrus scents, but you’re free to use whatever you prefer
• One quarter or one-half cup of water

Once you have all the ingredients to the recipe, start by mixing baking soda, dishwashing liquid, and sea salt in a bowl. Add the essential oils as much as you wish. Then slowly add water to the mixture until it sticks together. Make sure you don’t add too much water to make the mix too wet. Also, remember the more you use essential oils, the less water you will have to add. And if you add too much moisture by mistake, balance the mixture by adding more baking soda until you get the mix’s desired state. Then use our hands to make balls of this mixture. These balls should be approximately 1 to 1.5 inches in size. Place these balls on a wax paper and leave them to dry for a night.

Whenever you feel that your garbage disposal is emitting a foul smell, throw one ball down the garbage disposal, running water, and turn on your garbage disposal. You’d be surprised, but these disposal bombs only take about 30 seconds to clean your garbage disposal, leaving behind a refreshing scent. This recipe should make about 20 balls depending on the size. You can place these garbage disposal bombs in an airtight container, and since they don’t have any expiration date, you can store them indefinitely.

How to Quickly Clean Your Garbage Disposal?

What if you don’t have any garbage disposal bombs ready? Now how to make homemade garbage disposal cleanerfor a quick cleaning? Well, there is a way to do that as well. And it’s useful just as much as the garbage disposal bombs. You can say this homemade technique gives your garbage disposal a quick refresh. All you have to do is slice a lemon or two and run it down the garbage disposal when it’s grinding. The acid of lemon will cut all the smelling grease and oils, making your garbage disposal stink. If you’re out of lemons, then you can use oranges, fresh lime, or grapefruits. It happens to be the most cost-effective homemade remedy for neutralizing even the most pungent stench coming you’re your kitchen garbage disposal. You can also pour down a cup of vinegar as well for some extra disinfecting.

It knows how to make a homemade garbage disposal cleaner can relieve you from the odor almost instantly. Now let’s take a look at another homemade recipe that also gives instant and effective results.

Making Citrus and Vinegar Cubes

It’s always good to have an alternative on hand at all times. Making citrus and vinegar cubes is a perfect option for garbage disposal bombs. You see, it turns out how to make homemade garbage disposal cleaner is not a big deal. You have more than one technique that you can use at your convenience. So let’s see how this recipe works. You’ll need the following items to make these cubes:

• Vinegar
• Citrus peels. You can use the peels of any citrus fruit like lemons, oranges, limes, and grapefruits
• Citrus juice of any citrus fruit

Now what you have to do is put 5 to 6 small pieces of citrus peels into an ice cube tray and fill it up with vinegar. It’s best if you squeeze the juice of whatever citrus fruit that you’re using into the tray as well. Then put the tray in your freezer until it’s frozen. It’s better to make two trays in a go-to last longer, but if you want the ice trays for other purposes, then once the cubes are frozen, you can transfer them into a freezer bag or some other freezer storage container.

When you feel that your garbage disposal is emitting a rotten smell that’s slowly diffusing in the entire kitchen, please take a couple of these citrus and vinegar cubes and toss them down the garbage disposal, running water. And keep running the garbage disposal until the cubes have broken down. The vinegar in these cubes will disinfect your garbage disposal, and the citrus content will give it a fresh scent. And as we know, whenever you toss ice cubes down the garbage disposal, it gives you an added advantage of sharpening its grinder blades.

Some Effective Garbage Disposal Maintenance Tips

Having some knowledge of how to make homemade garbage disposal cleaner is not enough. Following some disposal maintenance tips is also very important. It kind of complements the effects of homemade garbage disposal cleaners. Here’s what you should be careful about:

• You’re not supposed to put anything into your garbage disposal other than biodegradable food waste. Remember, it’s not a waste bin.
• It would help if you frequently run your garbage disposal to avoid corrosion and rust.
• You should be aware that all the garbage disposal does not manufacture equally. The more expensive ones and with higher horsepowers will be to pulverize many things that the smaller sized apartment models can’t.
• Always use cold water when you’re running your garbage disposal. It’s necessary because if there’s any grease or fat content down in the garbage disposal, cold water will solidify it so that it can pulverize it. On the other hand, if you use hot water, it will liquefy the grease and fat remains and wash it down the drain. Eventually, all this grease and oil-based waste will solidify, causing your drains to get blocked. Also, using cold water keeps the motor of your garbage disposal from overheating.
• Always have the water running when using your garbage disposal. Once done, disposing of the kitchen waste, let the water run for at least 15 more seconds. It will wash away any remaining particles of the debris.

While learning about making homemade garbage disposal cleaner, you must also know that it’s better to practice all the tips mentioned above so that your garbage disposal doesn’t often come to that stage where it starts to smell. But even if it does, now you have several ideas about making homemade garbage disposal cleaner to immediately deal with the odor.

Are Homemade Garbage Disposal Cleaners Always Effective?

Yes, they are. But there’s one condition. Now that we’ve figured out how to make homemade garbage disposal cleaners, it’s also necessary to prevent garbage disposals from getting clogged, or else none of these homemade cleaners would be able to relieve you from the stinking garbage disposals. Thus, to prove these homemade garbage disposal cleaners useful, avoid subjecting your garbage disposal to the following things:

• Type of expandable food like pasta and rice. Such a variety of edible food can also expand in your drain pipes and cause clogs.
• Large amounts of potato peels. Peels of various vegetables have starch, which can turn into a thick paste-like substance, which causes the garbage disposal blades to stick.
• Big animal bones. Powerful garbage disposals might be able to pulverize small chicken bones, but the regular ones cannot.
• Cannot process Any type of fibrous waste like corn husks, banana peels, celery stalks, and asparagus in garbage disposals.
• Fruit pits and seeds.
• Eggshells because of its membrane lining.
• Large quantities of coffee grinds.
• Any grease, fat, or oil-based waste. Although, you end up disposing of some of this anyhow.

You can decide on how to make homemade garbage disposal cleaner depending on your convenience. You can either go with garbage disposal bombs, you can give a quick refresh to your garbage disposal with citrus fruits, or you can make vinegar and citrus cubes. If you regularly follow the essential tips mentioned in this article and use one of these homemade garbage disposal cleaners at least once a week, you can keep your garbage disposal free from germs and foul odors for more extended periods.