How to Clean Your Garbage Disposal

The kitchen is often the center of the house - it's where families gather to prepare and eat meals, and also where friends tend to hang out when they come to visit. So much happens in the kitchen that it's important to make sure that it smells and looks clean. It's easy to keep your kitchen clean but the garbage disposal poses a special problem. It's where we dump all of our food waste and particles of food trapped in there may begin to smell and derail your fun. It may be tempting to use the chemical solutions available at the store but these tried and true home recipes are cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Follow these steps to clean your garbage disposal and keep it that way.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 lemon or lime or orange cut into quarters
• 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of white vinegar and a kettle of boiling water

1. To clean your garbage disposal pour the 1/2 cup baking soda into your garbage disposal.

2. Follow with the white vinegar. Make sure to loosely cover the garbage disposal and the second sink if you have one. The mixture will fizz and look weird but it's working!

3. Wait three minutes and pour a kettle's worth of boiling water into the garbage disposal to rinse out the mixture. This will remove all of the particles to clean out your sink.

4. To freshen your garbage disposal periodically, drop 1/2 a lemon or lime or orange that has been sliced into quarters into the garbage disposal. While water is running, run the garbage disposal until the citrus has been pulverized and is gone. Your kitchen will smell citrus-y fresh.

Tips & Warnings

• Always follow the guidelines and tips provided by your garbage disposal manufacturer.