A Smelly Garbage Disposal is No Match For Nok-Out or SNiPER
One of the more important appliances in our homes is an item you hardly see, but use daily – your garbage disposal. All kinds of food and other waste and disappears down into it and occasionally, it may start to smell. It is sometimes necessary to do a more thorough cleaning to keep this little machine odor free. Here’s how to get rid of odor from your smelly garbage disposal.
Odd Noises?
If your disposal is making odd noises, there may be some foreign object down in there that won’t go through. Put on a rubber glove and reach down there and carefully feel around to find whatever it is and remove it carefully. There is certainly a “yucky” factor to this, but sometimes it needs doing.
Start With Ice
Many manufacturers recommend that you grind a hard material that can scour the interior without causing harm. Ice is great for this because it is indeed hard. You can even add very coarse salt to contribute to the scouring action. Layer ice and salt and pack it into the grinding chamber until it is full. Turn on the water (cold) and then start the disposal. Allow it to run even after the ice is all ground up to flush out all the debris.
Clean The Flange
The rubbery splash guard that keeps what is down there from kicking back up and out is often a place where grunge and odor can develop. This flange is a bit floppy and thus is often not scrubbed as well as the sink itself. Use a liquid degreaser such as Blue Dawn applied with an old toothbrush to scrub that flange. The underside of it may need some love too!
If you have an old electric toothbrush, you can repurpose it to provide good scrubbing of this flange. It’s a great tool for scrubbing hard to reach areas.
Cleaning The Trap
There is a P-trap (or S-pipe) underneath the disposal that holds a bit of trapped water to prevent odors from backing up out of the drain pipes. Occasionally, this may clog with coffee grounds or larger food chunks and cause slow draining. Don’t use strong chemical drain cleaners for this. Instead, put a washtub or bucket under the disposal beneath the sink and remove the p-trap. It’s easy – there are only 2 things to unscrew. Remove the p-trap and then use a bottle brush to scrub the interior and remove any struck-on gunk. Rinse with soapy water and then reassemble the trap.
Tips To Prevent A Smelly Food Waste Disposal Unit
As part of your normal kitchen cleanup, one of the last things to do, is to run the disposal with cold water flowing. Every night, without fail. Prevention is usually easier than cleanup! If this is a persistent issue for you, then after the above step, spray a bit of Nok-Out or SNiPER down into the unit as the final thing that goes into that side of the sink for the rest of the night. Allowing Nok-Out or SNiPER to soak through the night is an easy way to get rid of your smelly garbage disposal odor.