Things You Should Never Put Down Your Garbage Disposal

The last time I had to call a plumber for our clogged kitchen sink, I learned A LOT. Apparently, we had not been careful enough about what we were letting run down the drain and had caused a bit of a mess.

I figured with Thanksgiving coming up, a lot of us will be spending more time in the kitchen than normal and this list may come in handy. There is a common misconception that you can just rinse anything down the drain and the garbage disposal with just take care of it. That isn't exactly the case.

Food You Should Never Put Down the Garbage Disposal

While, yes, a disposal can help protect your pipes by pulverizing bits of food small enough to wash right through, it can't handle what a lot of us throw at it. Here is a list of what you should never let pass through your kitchen drain.

meat
bones
eggshells
seafood shells
fruit or fruit pits
grease, oil, fats
starches like potatoes, pasta, rice, cereal, bread, oats

I came across a TikTok of plumbers interviewed on this very topic. I was surprised to hear a couple of them say not to put ANY food down the disposal!

@primeplumbingmd Some answers might surprise you! 😱 #plumbing #plumbingfail #fyp #trending #funny #minimic #education #plumbingtok #plumbinglife #garbagedisposal ♬ Original Mii Channel Theme - VideoGameOST

What Happens When You Put Pasta Down the Drain?

For the last two things on the list, especially starches, the problem lies when the bits of food get stuck along the pipes. They build up on the sides and squish together making a paste that hardens. Eventually, the water can't get through. That's what happened to us.

Apparently, garbage disposals are only made for whatever tiny bits of food are rinsed off AFTER the dish is thoroughly scraped into the trash removing as much as possible. Not to unload your leftovers into it. The best way to avoid getting clogged up is to run water before you start the disposal and continue after you've turned it off for a little while.