How to Clean A Smelly Food Waste Disposer 

The kitchen is an important part of our houses, as that is the place where we cook our food and sometimes eat it. It makes the kitchen a place we want to keep clean and hygienic. Keeping in mind the important role that a kitchen has in our daily lives, they must be kept tidy and smell free. Nothing could be worse than having a kitchen that smells like rotten food all the time. It would get worse, especially when you have guests visiting.

When we talk about the kitchens and the smells they usually possess, we try to figure out where they could become. Sometimes you end up finding out that the food waste disposer is the problem. Then it would help if you started looking at how to clean a smelly food waste disposer. The simplest answer to this question is to keep your food waste disposer clean. If your kitchen is free from these smells, it will feel fresher.

If you want to know how to clean a smelly food waste disposer, read on to find out.

Clear Out the Clogs

If you came here to find out how to clean a smelly food waste disposer, the first step in doing so is to clear out any clogs that might be present in the food waste disposer. It is because these disposers have a high probability of being clogged. Similarly, clogs at other places along the line can also cause these foul smells. Therefore, to get rid of the smell, you need to clear these clogs out totally.

When you are about to clear the clogs, you need to be careful not to put your hands inside the disposer even when it is not running as you might end up hurting yourself. While clearing the clog is important, it is certainly not worth all this pain. Therefore, instead of using your hands, use a tool such as tweezers or pliers for this purpose.

Have said this, the problem remains, that is, to locate where the clog is. To find out where the clog is, what you can do is to shine a flashlight along the lines and then the disposer; this will help you locate the clog as the light will not pass through the clog and would be blocked. It will make it easier for you to clear out the clog using whichever tool you might prefer.

You need to bear in mind that you need to turn off the device before you can start clearing out the clog in the disposer or the lines. It will ensure your safety and will protect you from injuries while you clean. After you have cleared out the clog, turn on the disposer while the water is running. Leave it running for a minute so that the remaining buildup is flushed and cleared out as well. After a minute has passed, turn off the water and the disposer.

Soak It In Soapy Water

If you want to know how to clean a smelly food waste disposer, the next step is to soak the disposer in soapy water. This typically traditional and old method of soaking in soapy water for clearing out the odour in a material is quite effective. It works like a charm for most objects to get rid of the odours.

Now you must be thinking about the idea of soaking the entire waste disposer in the soapy water and must be wondering how it is even possible. However, there is a way out. If you look at how the disposer keeps running all the time, it is quite impossible actually to remove it and physically soak it in soapy water. It is an important step in getting rid of the smell. Then how to clean a smelly food waste disposer? We shall tell you, as there is a way out.

It might not be easy to soak the disposer in the soapy water; there is a way out. When soaking, the goal is to keep it in contact with soapy water for some time. And we can achieve this by running large amounts of soapy water through it while it runs. It will serve the same purpose as if we soaked it in the soapy water. It will also loosen the stuck particles and clear them or make them softer for the next step.

First, turn the device off and put the plug in the water disposer drain. Fill in the sink with four inches of water and add some good quality dishwashing liquid soap to it. Mix the water by swirling so that the soap mixes up thoroughly. Now unplug the drain, turn on the disposer and let the water run. When the soap water runs through the disposer, it clears up bigger particles and loosens the debris buildup that we shall clean in the later steps. Once the water has drained out, turn the disposer off.

When you want to know how to clean a smelly food waste disposer, this is a great way to go about cleaning it. You can repeat this process every few weeks to keep the disposer clean from the debris and foul smells. It also prevents particles from starting building up and also prevents possible clogs.

Scrub the Outer Parts of it

The next step in cleaning a smelly food waste disposer is to scrub the outer parts or the waste disposer’s visible parts. It will make it clean on the outside and free from any dirt particles left behind on the disposer. Bear in mind that the food particles left behind rotting are the major cause of these foul smells in the waste disposer. It is why we need to scrub the disposer to get rid of the food particles that might have been left behind to eliminate the smells.

You can go about it to take a brush and rinse it with water, now pour some dishwashing liquid on the brush. Using this brush, scrub the outer parts and other reachable parts of the waste disposer, starting from the sink and then along the line, all the way to the disposer. At the same time, you are doing this, clean every visible part and be accessed with a brush.

Scrub it on the Insides

This process should only be done after the step of soaking the disposer in the water. This scrubbing technique on the insides is an important step in cleaning a smelly food waste disposer.

To go about it, but roughly ten ice cubes in the sink and then add half a cup of salt to the ice cubes. Turn on a slow stream of water on the ice cubes and then turn on the disposer. Keep water and disposer running until all the ice cubes have flown into the sink along with the water.

You might be thinking why salt and ice are important for cleaning it on the insides. The ice cubes help the dirt and debris, and other particles to dislodge by crystallizing it. Salt also plays an important role. Due to being abrasive, it scrubs on the insides and the blades of the disposer. Another important role that salt plays is to clear out the odours in the waste disposer.

Run Down Some Cold Water

After you are done cleaning the waste disposer’s insides, it will most likely be free from all sorts of clogs and particles buildup. It is another step in how to clean a smelly food waste disposer. That is to run some cold tap water from the disposer to clean it further.

And why is that important? It is because flushing the disposer with cold water will further clean and wash away the inside’s remaining particles. To go about this step, you should put the plugin in the sink and then fill it with water. Once it has filled, remove the plug and let the water run. Plugging g is necessary because it will ensure the water runs with enough pressure to remove all the remaining particles and dirt. It will give the disposer a final rinse and ensure it is cleaned at best. You can repeat the process once if you want to be surer.

A great tip to extend the waste disposer’s life is to turn on the disposer only after you have the water running and turn it off before turning the water off.

Use Citrus

When you want to know how to clean a smelly food waste disposer, you don’t not only need to figure out ways to get rid of the smell, but all find out ways on how you can prevent this from happening in the first place. For this purpose, you can use citrus due to a lot of benefits that it has.

Various fruits like lemon, lime, and grapefruit are rich sources of citrus and citrus juice. The juice and peel from these fruits can play a great role in cleaning the disposer’s insides and getting it free from the odours that might be present. The natural properties of citrus also make the kitchen smell fresher.

If you out the peels of these fruits in the disposer and run it, they will clean the disposer’s blades and wipe any material that causes smells in them. Using this formula of citrus fruits, you can regularly flush your disposer through them. It will prevent the deposits from building up in the long term and prevent them from the start smelling in the first place.

Use The Self Made Mixture

If you take care of clearing the food particles regularly and use citrus to get rid of the odour, the disposer would generally stay clean. You will not have to worry much about using lengthy methods for cleaning the food waste disposer. If you have tried all other methods, and they did not work out. You still want to know how to clean a smelly food waste disposer. Use this magical mixture.

What is the magical mixture that we are going to use? This mixture can be made in your kitchen by mixing vinegar with baking soda. It makes an excellent cleaning material that takes care of both cleanings and gets rid of the odours.

Life up the flaps and pour half a cup of baking soda into the drain. It might fill the entire drain of the waste disposer. Keep pouring until it is filled up, and there is no space for more. When you are done, take a cup of vinegar and start pouring it in the drain until it forms a paste with the baking soda. Let this mixture sit in the drain for an hour or so. The vinegar acts as a natural deodorizer, and the paste would help cut the debris loose so that it is easier to remove.

After the time has passed, turn the water tap on to flush the mixture out. While you do this, please turn on the disposer to clean it further and thoroughly. It is a highly effective method, but it does not mean that you can repeatedly use it. It is because vinegar is acidic, and it can easily corrode the rubber parts of the disposer.

When it comes to cleaning a smelly food waste disposer, it is better to use the citrus formula more often than the vinegar mixture. It is because citrus gets rid of the foul smells easily and cleans the drain and the disposer.