What You Can and Cannot Put Down Your Garbage Disposal

Can I put eggshells down the garbage disposal?

Can I pour hot grease down the garbage disposal if I run hot water while pouring it?

Coffee grounds are already tiny, so I can just dump those into it, right?

When it comes to garbage disposals, there are many thing people think they can do that they should not.  There are also some things they think they cannot do which are perfectly acceptable.  In thisarticle, we’ll help you sort out some what you can and cannot do and explain why.

Grease and oil.  These are big no-nos.  The oil will still not only to your pipes, but to whatever else is already on them.  Also, your drain pipes go beyond your kitchen sink—many, many feet beyond it.  The further you go, the cooler the grease and water become and the more the grease and oil will cling to the pipes and even pool in the U-joints.  No matter how hot your water is, it is neither hot enough nor powerful enough to prevent this.  Grease and oil are major sources of blockage.

Eggshells and coffee grounds.  There are conflicting schools of thought on these items.  The best practice is to not put them into the garbage disposal.  While they can be ground into a fine sediment, they are not water soluble.  For eggs, some believe the shell’s membrane can become wrapped around the disposal’s blade.  For coffee grounds, some argue that the fine, hard sediment of these foodstuffs can get caught in the garbage disposal’s trap.  Some plumbers say you can grind either of these so long as you are running adequate water while dumping them.

Fibrous foods, including fruit peels.  Anything fibrous is generally considered best kept out of the disposal.  The big concern is that the stringy fibers will get wrapped in the blade.  Again, some plumbers disagree and even recommend using the peels of citrus to freshen a smelly garbage disposal.

Starchy foods.  Starches tend to either expand (pasta) or become a paste (potatoes) that can quickly clog the drain.  Again, plumbers disagree on whether you can grind these or not.  We’ll talk more about that in a moment.

Meat.  Generally speaking, meat is fine.  However, be mindful of grinding large pieces of tough, stringy meat.  As with fibrous fruits, they can wrap around the blade.

Bones, seeds and other hard items.  Avoid putting bones or hard seeds into the garbage disposal.  While some disposals can handle bones up to a half-inch, many cannot.  The one exception is fish bones.

Why do some plumbers disagree?  Some plumbers say that you can put fibrous foods, starchy foods, and even small (up to one-half inch) bones into a disposal.  They key is to start with running water and grind the items in small quantities.

If you cannot remember what you can put in the disposal or not, opt to discard or compost it.