How to Remove Odor from Garbage Disposal: Easy Home Remedies and Preventive Measures 

With the inception of garbage disposal, kitchen cleanups have never been easier. They have made the sinks tidier and kitchens sufficiently waste-free. However, it can be worrisome when they start stinking and emanate a very unpleasant odor that makes it relatively difficult to stand close to the sink. Knowing how to remove odor from garbage disposal has become mandatory to keep the unwanted smells out of your kitchen space.

Garbage disposal Saving your a considerable amount of time, garbage disposals can be convenient, but not so much when they have less than pleasant scent rising from the unit and ruining the overall impressive appeal of your kitchen. This odor is essentially due to the food particles left behind in your garbage disposal and keep on piling up.

Spoiled food radiates strong foul odor and also promotes the growth of bacteria. As efficient as your garbage disposal is in eliminating the trash down your sink, it cannot control the food trapped in the blades and different hide places. Consequently, the left particles spoil and begin to smell without giving you any warning or indication.

You must know how to eliminate such odor and save yourself from working in an unpleasant environment. Before we discuss the remedies for removing the smell from your garbage disposal unit, it is essential to discuss the reasons you encounter this odor in the first place.

Reasons Why Unpleasant Smells Emerge from Garbage Disposal

You will be surprised to know why your garbage disposal unit smells. It can be small as having garlic drained into the sink too large as disposed of food piling, spoiling, and hardening in the drain pipes. You cannot eliminate any possibilities; hence, you have to take measures that would ensure addressing all these prospects to remove odor from your garbage disposal effectively. Some of the reasons are enlisted here why you encounter foul smell arising from your garbage disposal:

1. Improper running of disposal unit: When you don’t run the garbage disposal unit correctly, the trash is likely to be left behind. That results in the piling of residue in the company, and ultimately odor starts to emit from it.

The odor source inside your garbage disposal thought generates because of bacteria that start to grow on residue piling inside your unit. The more bacteria grow inside the company, the stronger the smell becomes.

2. Blocked pipes: Another reason why your garbage disposal starts to sink is that of the food particles gathered in your drain pipeline and have hardened over the time to block the passage. These food particles, along with dirt and debris, block the pipe and start smelling. So it is not your garbage disposal unit that is the source of the odor, but the line it is linked to.

3. Inadequate cleaning: It is often complained by people that, despite cleaning, they cannot remove odor from the garbage disposal, or they continue to face problems of smell from the garbage disposal. The reason is not executing the cleaning in a manner that would eliminate the odor.

Improper cleaning of the unit leaves food particles in the corners and ducts, allowing them to spoil and produce the foul smell.

These reasons can be easily eliminated to remove odor from your garbage disposal entirely and prevent it from instigating again. Discussed underneath are the

Easy Remedies to Remove Odor from Garbage Disposal:

The displeasing odor from garbage disposal can be easily eradicated by utilizing products readily available in your home. You do not have to make extensive efforts to keep your home smelling fresh. These home remedies can effectively provide you with the best outcome by neutralizing the smell arising from your garbage disposal.

1.    Make Use of Lemons:

Citrus scents are a highly effective defense against rancid smells. They have a strong tendency to counterbalance the displeasing odor and help you get rid of the reeking smell. To utilize lemons in response to repulsive garbage odor, cut them into small sections, and hurl them into the disposal.

Lemon will fight against the other smells and compensate them by counteracting them. It is a practical yet cost-effective way of removing odor from your garbage disposal. You can also use fresh lime or orange for the purpose.

2.    Dual Benefiting Ice Cubes:

Another easy way to get rid of displeasing odor from garbage disposal is to use ice cubes. Dispensing some cubes down the disposal removes the pungent stenches. Where lemons suffice to remove odor from the garbage disposal while offering a rather pleasant citrus smell in return, ice cubes do not do that.

They do eradicate the smell, but they do not serve as a freshener, though. However, using ice cubes as odor removal of garbage disposal remedy proffer another benefit of sharpening the disposal’s grinding blades. They enhance the effective functioning of the unit.

Adding some salt to the ice in the procedure can enhance the effect and will serve as an effective cleaner of the sink. Naturally, salt is a disinfectant. It will clean the unit and eradicate any prevailing bacteria due to food debris in the sink.

3.    Baking Soda and Vinegar:

Baking soda is a mandatory product in every kitchen. However, its use cannot be confined to cooking and baking purposes only. You can effectively remove odor from your garbage disposal through it, too. With practically no effort at all, you can make your garbage disposal stench-free.

All you need to do is measure one cup of dry baking soda and one cup of distilled white vinegar and pour them down the garbage disposal once you have turned the unit on. What’s better is that you can use just vinegar individually, too. All you have to do is mix it with cold water and discharge it down the garbage disposal unit.

Baking soda can be combined with lemon to make an effective defense against the stinking sink. When you combine both, you can achieve not only an odor-free drain but the properties of lemon will give you additional benefits, too. Alongside refreshing smell, lemon also tends to eliminate the growth of bacteria.

4.    Bleach the Odor Away:

Using bleach can be an effective armor against the smell accruing from the garbage disposal. Employing a mild bleach for the purpose can remove the odor from garbage disposal and dislodge any particles of food stuck in the duct and block the passage and a significant source of producing a foul odor.

It is an easy way to clean your garbage disposal unit that is hassle-free and only requires you to get a bottle of bleach and drain it down the sink while leaving the cold water running. Considering fragranced bleach for the process will serve as a freshener, too.

Preventive Measures to Remove Odor from Garbage Disposals

While the visible surfaces get most of the attention, what fails to get noticed are the places that are hidden. Your garbage disposal unit is one example. No matter how sparkling your kitchen counters are and how maintained cabinets you have, if your garbage disposal is not taken care of, be prepared to embarrass yourself with foul odors arising from the unit.

Using air fresheners can be beneficial but never fool-proof. Following the mentioned home remedies can help you remove the odor from the garbage disposal effectively. You need to, however, carry out specific measures to ensure that your disposal unit remains odor-free.

Here are a few tips to help you in the process of removing odor from garbage disposal:

1.    Cleaning and Then Some More

Cleaning should always be the first step to start with. Use a dish wand and lather it up with a generous amount of dishwashing soap. Scrub all the garbage disposal parts that are visible to you and the ones you can easily access.

Make sure that you thoroughly scrub the joining points of the rim and sink. It is the favorite spot for molds to grow, and an effective trap of debris and food remains. The cleaner your garbage disposal unit is, the lesser possibility for odor sources to sustain for long.

In encountering a continuous smell, it is an indication for you that deep cleaning is required. When the smell arising from your garbage disposal doesn’t go away despite cleaning the housing, it probably means your pipes are blocked with large and hardened dumps of food.

You can stop the odor that originates from this block by using hot water and oxygen bleach. Once you have disconnected the blocked pipe portion from the rest of the pipeline and secured the end of the pipe, pour the mixture of bleach and water down your garbage disposal. Wait for almost an hour and then drain the water from the pipeline. It will clear the pipe and remove the odor from your garbage disposal.

2.    Soak and Repeat

While using the garbage disposal unit, it is recommended that you leave the water in the sink basin running. It ensures that all the waste is drained out of the disposal, and the ducts are clear. If your housing is clean and sans any food particle, the probability of your kitchen having a foul odor in the air will be marginal.

You can also use vinegar and dish soap. Plug the drain and fill your basin with water. Add some vinegar and dish soap. Unplug the drain and switch the disposal on. It will cleanse the housing and ensure that no dirt, food remains, or other trash is left in the duct. It will remove odor from the garbage disposal. Clean accommodation is an insurer of stink-free removal.

3.    Regular Flushing Keeps Odor at Bay

Proactive measures are beneficial for preventing almost all problems. If you make routine cleaning at your disposal a practice, you will be less likely to deal with odor problems in your kitchen. To remove odor from the garbage disposal, you do not have to go out of the way to carry out the extravagant technique.

Simple flushing can serve the purpose, too. All you have to do is turn the disposal unit on and let the faucet running for at least a minute. Using hot water is highly recommended. The thick stream of water will force down any food particle down the disposal and clear the pipes. Routine flushing after every time you use your sink effectively removes the odor from the garbage disposal.

Save Yourself from All the Hard Work

No matter how easy it appears to remove the odor from your garbage disposal, it is an effort nonetheless. There is an easy way to avoid it once and for all – do not let it happen! Prevention is the best remedy. When you don’t give your garbage disposal unit anything to become a displeasing odor source, it won’t instigate any.

Preventing garbage odor is far more comfortable than removing it. All you have to do is to control what goes down your garbage unit. Avoid any fibrous vegetables getting into the drain. The more starchy food you allow passing through your disposal, the more smell your company is going to suffer.

Also, having your disposal run a little longer after washing can prevent the food particles from staying behind. Once you are done the washing, leave your disposal running for a couple of extra seconds. It will push all the garbage out of the unit and into the pipes, leaving straightforward dumping.

Why Is Removing Odor from Garbage Disposal Crucial?

It has been reported that every year 250 million tons of trash is generated in America alone. The rotting garbage is a known and well-defined source of cultivating bacteria. These bacteria pose an exceeding threat to the health of residents. The reason why trash begins to smell is that the bacteria begin to produce over it.

When you start sensing odd smell in your kitchen and closer to your sink, it’s a neon sign of warning that you have bacteria nurturing. Removing odor from garbage disposal is virtually eliminating bacteria from your home that have housed way too close to you. Clean garbage disposal sans any smell is an insurer of your home being free from any harmful organisms. If you are sensing any unpleasant odor cropping up from your garbage disposal unit, don’t wait to see if it will go away itself. It won’t! The more time you give to it, the more it will prevail. Be proactive, and fight it off right away!