How to Eliminate Garbage Disposal Odor

What’s That Smell? How to Eliminate Garbage Disposal Odor:

garbage disposal odor

Have you ever walked into your kitchen and thought, “What is that awful smell”? While there could be many culprits for the foul smell, it’s most likely garbage disposal odor.

It’s an area of the kitchen that is constantly bombarded with food, but it’s also the least likely to get cleaned regularly. Thankfully, there are several solutions for getting rid of a smelly garbage disposal and getting your home smelling fresh again.

To learn how to get rid of garbage disposal stink and prevent it, keep reading the information below.

What Causes Smelly Garbage Disposal?

When food gets tossed down the garbage disposal, sometimes it gets stuck between the grinder blades. Bacteria then grows on the rotting food which leads to a smelly sink.

Not only that, but since most people don’t clean their garbage disposal regularly, it creates an environment of wet, decaying food that sits in the sink for long periods of time.

Eventually, those odors make their way out into the atmosphere of the kitchen. By that time, you probably have a pretty strong garbage disposal odor, and it takes some serious cleaning to get it fresh again.

Luckily for you, there are some tricks for keeping the problem under control. Below are some of the most helpful tips for managing garbage disposal stink:

Replace the Top of Your Garbage Disposal

Most garbage disposals contain a rubber collar around the opening, which is known as a baffle. When your sink is smelling bad, it’s probably because it’s stuck on the plastic.

However, by replacing it with an antimicrobial baffle, it’ll cut down on the foul odors tremendously. This is especially helpful when your garbage disposal is old. The plastic is usually worn and not good at blocking odors anymore.

Making the switch should do the trick.

Use a Powerful Garbage Disposal Cleaner

Sometimes, you need to use a product that gets down into your garbage disposal and does a thorough cleaning. This is especially true if you’ve tried other methods and nothing has worked.

A product like Xionlab’s Garbage Disposal Cleaner and Deodorizer will make your disposal like new again.

It’s an effective plant-based detergent that helps to digest grease, fat, and oil. These kinds of substances get stuck in the Drain and cause blockages, which also leads to bad smells.

This product doesn’t just mask odors, but it removes them by fighting against the source of the odor at a molecular level. The result is a fresh, pleasant scent.

Plus is septic safe, so you don’t have to worry about it destroying the gaskets in your pipes or causing any other damage.

Using an effective cleaner like this one gets rid of garbage disposal odor once and for all.

Use a Garbage Disposal Brush

When you clean other parts of your home, you normally use a cleaning solution along with a sponge or brush, right? Well, that same concept should be applied to cleaning your garbage disposal.

Unlike your stove, countertops, and other areas of your house, you can’t see what’s down in the garbage disposal. Sometimes, pouring in a cleaner in by itself isn’t enough. It requires that you scrub and break up solidified food particles off the surface of your disposer.

This is a great way to ensure that no mess is left behind and that garbage disposal odor stays away. In fact, it’s a good practice to include your disposer in your regular kitchen cleaning routine.

After you wash the dishes, go ahead and clean it out or you can do it after each time that you use the disposer. By incorporating a regular cleaning schedule, it ensures that you don’t have funky odors seeping into your kitchen and the rest of your home.

Use a Disposal Genie

When you’re cooking and doing other things in your kitchen, a lot is going on and sometimes you can’t catch everything. The problem with garbage disposals is that they are open and anything can slip down into them.

However, by installing a garbage disposal genie, it helps to prevent big particles of food from falling into the disposer. The great thing about the genie is that it allows water to flow through easily, but it shields against silverware and other items as well.

A disposer genie is great to have because sometimes you may not notice if food particles fall into the garbage disposal and you can’t see what’s in there. So you may have a bad smell in your kitchen from food that you didn’t know was in the disposer.

A genie is one of the best defenses against a smelly sink. Not only that, but it keeps your disposal from becoming damaged due to other harmful items that don’t belong in there.

Make Sure to Use the Garbage Disposal Correctly

Another huge problem that causes garbage disposal smell is not using it properly. If the food isn’t disposed of correctly, that could lead to a very smelly situation.

Before putting the food in, turn on the faucet. Then turn on the garbage disposal. Next, gradually feed the food into the disposer. You don’t want to dump it all in at once because it could overload it.

Also, putting too much food in together provides a greater chance of bigger pieces of food not getting ground as it should.

After the garbage disposal is finished grinding up all of the food particles, let the water run for about thirty seconds to allow the remaining debris to flush down the drain.

Replace Your Garbage Disposal

If you’ve tried everything to get rid of your garbage disposal odor, then it may be time for a new one. This is a last-resort option, but sometimes it’s needed, especially if your disposer is old.

If it’s outdated, chances are it’s not grinding up food particles as it should, which leads to more bad smells. The good news is, it’s pretty simple to install another one.

Basically, you just have to twist the old one out and put the new one in. After doing so, you likely notice that the foul odors subside. To keep your new garbage disposal in good condition, be sure to use it properly and clean it on a regular basis.

Removing Garbage Disposal Odors: Helpful Tips

Keeping garbage disposal odor at bay is all about maintenance. For instance, if you don’t clean out your toilet, it’ll start to smell. Or, if you don’t take out the trash, it’ll start to smell too…you get the point.

But in addition to cleaning your disposer, there are some things you can do to make sure that bad smells don’t become a problem. Here are a few suggestions:

Turn the Disposal on Before Putting Food Inside

In the information above, we explained that you should make sure to turn the water on before switching on the garbage disposal.

However, you must understand to never put food in before you turn on the disposer. After you cut on the water faucet, be sure that the grinder is running first. It reduces the risk of the grinder jamming and food particles being missed.

Run Cold Water

Another helpful tip is to run cold water as you’re using the garbage disposal. Hot water liquefies the fat in the food. But once it cools down, the fat solidifies and causes pipe clogs and bad odor.

If you want to run hot water after everything is ground, that’s fine. But make sure to do it after the cold water has had at least 30 seconds to a minute to run and flush everything out.

Don’t Put Fat or Grease Drippings Down the Disposer

This is another topic we briefly covered in the section above. But now we want to explain the alternatives for your oil and grease. As the saying goes, oil and water don’t mix, and that’s a true statement.

Mixing the two can severely ruin your garbage disposal. Instead of pouring it down the drain, pour it into an empty coffee can, a plastic oil bottle, or another type of container.

Don’t Put Hard Food in the Garbage Disposal

This might seem like a no-brainer, but this point can’t be stressed enough. Although it’s called a garbage disposal, you can’t treat it like an actual garbage can. Avoid tossing in things like bones and large chunks of solid food.

Goodbye Garbage Disposal Odor

If you want to get rid of garbage disposal odor, choose Xionlab’s garbage disposal cleaner and deodorizer. Our products are non-toxic, biodegradable, and safe on your pipes.