It’s past the middle of October, and with Halloween just around the corner, it means we’ve arrived at the start of the big parade of end-of-the-year holidays. You’ll have plenty of reasons to celebrate during the coming months, and many of those celebrations involve serving food—and sometimes big feasts.
This is a fun time for you and your family and friends. But it might be a rough time for parts of your kitchen, the garbage disposal in particular. During the end of the year, calls to fix garbage disposals are among the most common that plumbers receive. We’re more than happy to help you with garbage disposal trouble—but we’re also happy to help you avoid such trouble in the first place. Here’s some helpful disposal planning for the holidays:
Maybe it’s time for a new garbage disposal?
The same way that people consider replacing their old furnace before winter, it’s a good idea to take stock of the performance of an old garbage disposal before the fall and winter holidays to see if it should be replaced. Often the best way to avoid future problems is to start fresh. If your disposal has started to jam on a regular basis, or it’s making louder noises than usual, look into getting a new one. A disposal that’s over 10 years old is also ready to retire.
Festive items that don’t go down the disposal
Here are a number of common holiday food items to keep out of the disposal:
- Meat bones: This is a huge source of trouble during this time of year. A disposal cannot grind down bones, and they are likely to cause it to break.
- Fats, oils, and grease: Another common problem throughout the holidays. Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) look harmless in liquid form, but as soon as they cool down they’ll turn into a gunk that will easily jam a disposal.
- Rice and pasta: Both these innocent-looking items are highly water absorbent, leading to them swelling and creating problems for the disposal.
- Fibrous vegetables: This includes onions, asparagus, and celery. Their strands can catch on the mechanical parts of the disposal and lead to breaks.
Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. is here to help your plumbing in Winter Springs, FL. Schedule service today.