For you to have an easy life, you should take good care of your garbage disposal unit. You should work hard at preventing garbage disposal problems from coming about.

According to commercial garbage disposal repair professionals, one of the most effective ways of preventing the problems from coming about is doing the right things and avoiding the things that would put your garbage disposal at risk.

Garbage disposal do’s

• Before you start the appliance, turn on a medium to a strong cold flow of water. You should let the cold water continue running for at least 15 seconds. The purpose of doing this is to flush the drain line and get rid of any food particles that might still be there.
• Watch how you put the food in the garbage disposal. Some people have the impression that they should simply push the food into the unit and the machine will do its work. Don’t do this. For the unit to comfortably digest the food, you need to put small pieces of it at a time.
• When you put a lot of it at once, you put the appliance at the risk of clogging up. The food also won’t be digested as effectively as you would want it to be.
• Keep your garbage disposal clean all the time. This calls for you to clean it at least once every week. One of the ways of keeping it clean is putting small amounts of ice into the unit and cleaning the insides of it.
• When cleaning the unit this way, be cautious. Always ensure that the drain stopper is in place all the time. This is to prevent ice particles from flying all over.
• It’s common for the appliance to have unpleasant odors. The cool thing is that you can prevent them from coming about. One of the most effective ways of making it possible is using a disposal cleaner or de-greaser that will eliminate the grease that is usually the main cause of the odors.
• Many people use any product that they come across which results to them not getting the results they are looking for. For you to be on the safe side, only use products that have been authorized by the garbage disposal manufacturer.
• From time to time, grind up peels from citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges. By doing this you keep the grinding area smelling fresh. The natural acidity from the fruits suppresses the growth of bacteria that are known to cause odors.
• As a preventative measure, have your kitchen drain line snaked every two years. You should note that the garbage disposal is as good as the drain line serving it; therefore, when the drain line is clean and in good condition, the garbage disposal will also be functioning properly.

Garbage disposal don’ts

Just as there are some things that you should do to your unit and keep it in great shape, there are equally a number of things you shouldn’t do. Some of the things you shouldn’t do include:

• Don’t use hot water when grinding food. While it might seem practical using hot water, the water usually melts the grease in the unit putting it at the risk of clogging. Always use cold water.
• Don’t put non-food items in the unit. The unit is designed to take only food items; therefore, no non-food items should find their way into the unit. As rule of thumb, never put grease, fat or any other items of that kind down the garbage disposal.

This is because they will cause the drain line to clog requiring you to hire a repair professional to unclog it for you.

When the garbage disposal develops problems

Even with the best care, it’s common for the garbage disposal to develop problems. One of the most common problems is constant clogging up of the garbage disposal. When people experience this problem, they rush to call commercial appliances repair Northern VA professionals.

While there is nothing wrong with calling the professionals, in most cases the problem is minor and you can fix it on your own without hiring an expensive contractor.

Before you phone the professional, try resetting the garbage disposal. It’s only after you have failed to fix the unit that you should call the repair expert.