Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Back to the grind: How to quickly and easily clean your garbage disposal

Clean Kitchen
Flickr | Jupshaw Upshaw
Your garbage disposal is a handy tool to have while you’re in the middle of cooking meals, but over time they can start to grind your gears. Disposals can grow slow, get filled with gunk, and start making the kitchen stink, especially when used frequently. When this happens, your disposal needs a good cleaning. Fortunately, this is an easy do-it-yourself process, and you probably already have everything you need to get rid of those smells and reinvigorate your disposal’s performance. We’ll show you how to do it in six quick steps!

Required items: ice cubes, salt, white vinegar, baking soda, reliable scrubbing brush. Total time for cleaning: about half an hour.

  1. Prep work

Recommended Videos

Start by turning off power to the garbage disposal – a process that may differ based on what type of disposal you have. If you have a plug-in disposal under your sink, you can simply unplug it. If your garbage disposal is more built-in, then head over to your breakers/electrical panel and shut off power to that area of the kitchen. This is a little more annoying, but safety comes first. You may also want to grab rubber gloves, a few towels, and a couple scrubbing tools — we’ve found that narrow, long-handled kitchen brushes and toothbrushes work well for later steps.

Now, take a closer look at your impellers to see if there are any obvious problems. To do this properly, grab a flashlight, pull back the flaps, and peer inside to take a look at what’s going on. This is useful for two reasons: First, if there’s anything large or inappropriate in the disposal (trapped fibers, pieces of metal, etc.) you can see them and work on digging them out before you begin cleaning. Try using a pair of pliers or similar tool to pry out any unwanted objects — and never, ever stick your hand fully down that drain, because we’ve all seen those horror movies.

Second, use the flashlight to take a look at the impellers: It’s probably not what you expected, right? Many people picture spinning blades down at the bottom of their disposal. Actually, most disposals use a series of grinding plates to work their magic. Seeing this in person is beneficial in practicing proper disposal behavior and understanding what happens when things go wrong. Remember, if any serious problem is interfering with disposal maintenance, contact a plumber or other professional. Even a thorough cleaning can’t fix every problem.

  1. Ice and salt

You can turn your garbage disposal back on for this step. Start by applying an ice and

salt

combination. Take around 10-15 ice cubes and pour them into the disposal. Measure out about half a cup of salt and pour it in after the ice. Many people prefer to use rock salt, but don’t worry if you only have table salt to work with. Now flip on your garbage disposal and let it run for a few minutes. This is going to be loud: Don’t worry, the ice won’t damage your disposal, but it will take time to grind it all up.

The ice helps grind and break apart any bits of matter that may have become stuck in your disposal. (There’s also a theory that the cold temperatures help make those particulates more brittle and easier to break.) The salt helps melt the ice down a little and, to a lesser extent, also scours the inside of the disposal.

  1. Vinegar and baking soda

We all remember this trick from building classroom volcanoes or experimenting in the kitchen.

Vinegar

is acidic enough to help wear down stains and kill germs, while

baking soda

acts as a scouring agent that also deals with bad smells. Combine them, and the resulting chemical reaction creates foam that helps drive the vinegar deeper into the crevices of your garbage disposal. Start with half a cup of baking soda down the drain, and then slowly pour in a full cup of vinegar (preferably white vinegar). If the ensuing chemical reaction still makes you giggle like a kid, you can add some more.

It’s worth noting that some people like to use as much vinegar as possible to ensure a fuller cleaning. This includes freezing vinegar to create the ice cubes from our second step. If you have the time, vinegar, and curiosity, you can try that out. If not, don’t worry about it.

  1. Scrub

Don’t rinse out that vinegary foam! Instead, take your scrubbing brush and toothbrush and go to work. Scrub down the rubber folds of your garbage disposal and all their related crannies, rinsing when necessary. Clean all the grime away, and then clean any other parts of your disposal that your brush can reach. If you need additional cleaning agent, add a little more vinegar and baking soda, this time in your sink, and use the resulting paste to help your scrubbing efforts.

  1. Flood

Finally, it’s time to wash it all away. Plug up your garbage disposal (if you do not have a plug that fits in your disposal, you can usually find a plastic dish that will block it safely for this step). Fill your sink mostly full of hot water. Add a drizzle of your dish soap while the sink is filling up to create some suds. Then unblock the drain and let the water flood through the disposal all at one time. The water should carry away any bits of debris, leaving your disposal clean and smelling much better.

  1. Maintain

Run your garbage disposal frequently to help keep it clean. Every couple of weeks or so, pour some dish soap down the disposal, or add a few lemon peels and let it run with cold water to help deal with any unpleasant smells. Remember, we tend to use our garbage disposals more around the holidays, so more frequent maintenance may be necessary if the disposal is seeing a lot of action.

Tyler Lacoma
Former Digital Trends Contributor
If it can be streamed, voice-activated, made better with an app, or beaten by mashing buttons, Tyler's into it. When he's not…
You only need to spend $34 to stay warm with this space heater deal
The Dreo DR-HSH006 space heater in the living room.

If this winter has felt particularly chilly in your house, you might want to take a look at space heater deals. If you want one that's portable and budget-friendly, check out the Dreo DR-HSH006, which is currently on sale from Walmart with a $36 discount that drops its price from $70 to just $34. There's probably not much time remaining before this flash deal expires, so if you're interested in buying this heating device for less than half-price, you need to proceed with the transaction right now.

Why you should buy the Dreo DR-HSH006 space heater
While there are space heaters that are huge and bulky, the Dreo DR-HSH006 is a portable model with a handle that you can carry to different rooms around the house, so you can use it wherever you are. It only takes a few seconds to warm up and provide heat, with temperature settings between 41 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit that you can adjust in increments of 1 degree. Since it's powered by a brushless DC motor and it's equipped with a winglet fan, the device operates silently at just 34dB, so it won't disturb you while it works in the background.

Read more
25 last-minute Valentine’s Day gifts that will arrive in time (and are still impressive)
Valentine's Day flowers and chocolate covered strawberries.

Your significant other may have told you they don't want anything big for Valentine's Day, but that doesn't mean they don't want something. And if you've waited until now to get a gift, you're in good company. The internet has made getting last-minute Valentine's Day gifts a total cinch, whether you just want a luxury tech gift, a trendy piece of jewelry, or a whole damn pizza oven. (And yes, we will advocate for pizza ovens as last-minute Valentine's Day gifts.)

Why stop at getting something for your partner? Get some soft pajamas for the kids, fresh flowers for mom, and a frozen drink machine for yourself—er, the household—while you're at it. Most of our picks for last-minute Valentine's Day will arrive on your doorstep via Amazon Prime's next-day shipping, but there are a few from other sites that offer lightning-fast delivery.

Read more
Get a Bella Pro touchscreen air fryer for only $70 at Best Buy
The Bella Pro touchscreen air fryer on a white background.

You may be tempted to invest in a high-end and expensive air fryer, but air fryer deals don’t actually have to be expensive. Instead, you can get a lot for under $100. Right now, you can buy the Bella Pro 8-quart touchscreen air fryer for $70 instead of $110 at Best Buy. It’s ideal if you’re new to air frying and don’t want to spend too much. Read on and we’ll tell you all about what it has to offer for this excellent price.

Why you should buy the Bella Pro 8-quart touchscreen air fryer
Bella isn’t a name you’ll see among the very best air fryers, but it’s a reliable budget brand for kitchen appliances. This particular model is intelligently designed. Besides the typical benefits of an air fryer, such as your food having 75% less fat and a crisper texture, the Bella Pro 8-quart touchscreen air fryer also knows what you need from it.

Read more