How to Get Smell Out Of Food Waste Disposal 

Having food waste disposal at home makes life much more convenient because now there will be a designated place for the leftover food to go. This food will no longer be taking up a necessary place on the countertop or your refrigerator because now that you have the correct way of disposing of it, you know where it meant to go. However, when this food waste disposal used daily, it can lead to issues such as unpleasant smells.

Although, at first these smells are faint and are only detectable when you are at proximity with the food waste disposal. But, as time goes on, these unpleasant smells will begin to linger around your house and cause everything to smell like rotten food. Apart from making your kitchen and perhaps the living room smell unbearably bad, they may start attracting uninvited guests as well. If you are someone who has children in the house and wants to maintain the health standards of your home, you need to know how to get the smell out of your food waste disposal.

Before starting your expedition of getting rid of these unpleasant smells that are lingering in your house, you need to be aware of the correct tips and tricks. When you are aware of all this, you will know (and you can help others) on how to get the smell out of food waste disposal successfully.

Eliminate the source of the bad smells

The only way you can successfully eliminate bad smells from your house would be by knowing the source and targeting it. All issues resolved when their root cause is addressed and worked. In this case, determine the basis of these unpleasant smells so you can begin eliminating successfully. Here are a few references to look out for:

Check for clogs- A significant reason for the food waste disposal to smell bad is because there is a clog within its unit that is allowing these foul odours to produce. To fight this smell, you need to make sure you are removing the clog. Keep in mind, when you are cleaning the disposal, you should never put your hand in the drain, even when it switched off. Here are the tips for removing clogs:

• Take the food waste disposal plug out.
• With the help of a powerful flashlight, look down the drain to see any food built up, more significant clogs, or any other things that could cause blockages.
• Once you have detected the blockage, use tweezers, pliers, or tongs to eliminate the blockage.
• Put the plug back in, turn the water on, turn the food waste disposal on, and let it run for a couple of minutes. Then, turn the disposal off along with the water.

Use soap water to soak the disposal- The function of the food waste disposal is to keep processing so it can drain, which is why it is hard for it to get deep cleaning done. Since this deep cleaning does not happen regularly, it becomes easier for food to get stuck in the disposal. It is why it makes everything smell so bad. For a thorough, deep, and soapy cleaning, you will need to:

• Plug up the drain of the food waste disposal.
• Then start filling your sink up (it should be at least 4 inches full) with water.
• Put in 2 teaspoons of liquid dishwashing soap and start mixing it in the water so it can produce lathery foam.
• There is the amount of foam in your sink; you will need to take the plug out of the drain.
• Turn the waste disposal on and let the soapy water go through its drain while it cleanses everything thoroughly.
• When the water is all drained, turn the disposal off again.

Everything visible on the waste disposal needs to scrubbed- With the soapy water soaking is done previously, will loosen the waste disposal (meaning, not all the food particles will be where stuck them). It means you can start scrubbing and take away the remaining crumbs. Here is what you will need to do to clean the visible parts of your food waste disposal:

• Take a scrubbing brush or dish wand and rinse it.
• Liberally pour liquid dish soap onto the damp brush or wand.
• Then, start detecting the visible areas of food waste disposal and start scrubbing. Do not forget to clean the rim of the sink and the inside space of the drain.

The inside of the unit needs cleaning too- The area where the food is disposed, you need to place at least ten ice cubes there. Sprinkle ½ cup of coarse salt on top of the ice cubes to cover them. Turn the water on a low stream, turn the disposal on, and push the salt-covered ice cubes over the drain. Keep the disposals going until these ice cubes have dissolved. The purpose of the ice cubes is to take the built-in food particles away from their place while the coarse salt will start scrubbing the blades and remove as much odour as it can.

Start flushing with cold water- To get the bottleneck and remaining debris out of a jam, you will need to wash it with cold water. To do this task successfully, turn the cold water on the highest pressure and direct it right into the food waste disposal. While the water turned on, make sure the food waste disposal turned on as well. Let the high-pressure cold water run for a couple of minutes (at least 1 to 2).

Removing the bad smells from the food waste disposal

Once you have targeted the primary source of this foul smell, you will need to move onto the next step. In this step, you will be using home remedies to get the smell out of your food waste disposal.

The iconic combination of baking soda and vinegar- Baking soda is used for many home remedies to fight against bad smells because it can absorb the odours. In contrast, vinegar seen as a cleaner. When these two home ingredients mixed, they are a safe and effective cleanser for your food waste disposable. To use these two ingredients to their fullest potential, you will need to:

• Put 2 cups of baking soda directly inside the drain of your food waste disposal.
• In a slow and steady stream, start pouring ½ cup of vinegar over the drain.
• Let these two ingredients sit in the drain for an hour or so.
• After you have let these ingredients stay in the food waste disposal for a long time, turn the water on high pressure and let it run over the drain for a minute.

Cubes of vinegar in the food waste disposal- Since ice know to clean and freshen the smell (or eliminate the foul odour) from your food waste disposal, you can combine it with vinegar to increase the power of this cleaning. All you will need to do is pour vinegar in an empty ice tray container and let it freeze. Within 24 hours, will freeze these vinegar ice cubes and you can start cleaning the next morning.

• Take the vinegar cubes out of the ice tray and pour them into the food waste disposal tray.
• Turn the water on a low, steady stream along with turning the food waste disposal. Let the water run on top of it until the ice cubes have dissolved.

Use the freshness of lemon peels- Citrus fruits and peels are known to freshen up the environment because their fresh smell makes everything smell new. To make your food waste disposal smell fresher than ever, you will need to squeeze a lemon and use its peels. Cut the peel into 1-inch pieces. Turn the water and the food waste disposal on so you can begin placing in the lemon peels one at a time. Keep in mind, the slower you do this, the more significant the results will be.

• If no lemons are available, you have the choice to use lime, oranges, or grapefruit as well. Just juice them first and repeat the process.

Prevention from future bad smells

Prevention is key. When you use preventative measures for anything, you will make sure you do not have to fight against any issues in the future. Therefore, if you want your house to maintain its fresh air, make sure you are taking these measures.

Refrain from putting fibrous food down the food waste disposal- The best way to prevent any bad smells from emerging from your food waste disposal would be by not putting in the wrong foods. When you are putting “wrong” foods inside the waste disposal, there is a chance of clogging the disposal, clogging the drains, jamming its motor, and leaving the smell of rotten food in the gutter.

The “wrong” kind of foods includes artichoke, onion skin, corn husks, banana peels, and celery.

Say no to starchy and “expandable” food- should never put foods that are composed of starch or foods that can expand when they come in contact with water in the food waste disposal. The reason for this is that they start becoming thick, lumpy, and sticky while jamming the impeller. The foods you need to avoid putting down the drain would be bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes.

Cut the giant waste into smaller waste particles- Large food chunks can clog the food waste disposal or jam up in the drain. It tends to lead to bad smells. If you need to dispose of larger scraps of food, all you will need to do is cut it into 1-inch pieces before you are tossing them down the drain. Although the waste particles may be small, there is a chance of the drain clogging if you are putting in too much. It is why you need to make sure you are putting it down at a steady rate.

Water the appliance- Your food waste disposal needs water every time you are putting food in it so can process it properly. Moreover, the removal should not be running if you are not running water directly on it. To process the food, you will need to run high-pressure cold water down the disposal drain. The disadvantage of not keeping the water running while you are disposing of food is that it can cling onto the blades and the internal systems leading to these bad smells.

No use of hot water at all- The reason why should not use hot water on a food waste disposal is that the heat from the water can make the grease liquid. The issue with this is that when this happens, the loosened up grease will go further down the drain and it will cling onto the pipe walls and cause clogging.  As time goes on, the oil will begin to age and start releasing bad smells. Apart from the bad smells, this grease will cause blockages within the food waste disposal.

Use hard materials to clean the blades often- To keep the bad smells away from your house, you will need to make sure the edges are clean at all times. Can do it by using hard materials on the disposal after a couple of days. The hard materials that would recommend would be chicken bones, pits of fruits, fish bones, eggs shells, and ice cubes.

Just by following these simple steps and keeping the tips in mind, you will be able to keep bad smells out of your food waste disposal!