Is your garbage disposal emitting some very interesting odors, and you can’t stand being in your kitchen for one bit? Don’t know what to do about it? Well, we’re going to help you out here and show you some fast and easy hacks to get rid of those pesky smells naturally.
Why My Garbage Disposal Stinks a Lot?
You don’t need to be surprised. There are a few reasons why your garbage disposal stinks in the first place.
First up, old food scraps that got tossed down the garbage disposal but didn’t fully go away always cause the biggest stink. Those bits linger in the grind chamber or rubber flaps. They start decaying inside the unit, and that nasty smell comes out. Add to that the fact that you might not run enough water when you turn it on or after you’re done, so those particles get stuck.
Then you have grease and fat, which sneak down and solidify or cling to surfaces. That builds up bacteria and smell. Also, certain foods you drop in the garbage disposal are trouble. A few examples are fibrous vegetables, large bits, and coffee grounds. They find places to hang out and rot in there.
Finally, pipes or drains under your sink may have clogs or poor flow. If the disposal isn’t flush-rinsed or if the trap is dry or the piping angle is off, sewer gases or food breakdown odors sneak back into your kitchen.
How Can I Get the Smell Out of My Garbage Disposal?
If you don’t have the right ingredients around the house, here’s how to banish the odor of your decomposing food in the garbage disposal and leave your kitchen sink sparkly clean.
Step 1. Run Hot Water Through the Garbage Disposal
The first method is you’re going to turn on the hot water and first flush things through.
Now, in this step, you want to remove the rubber stopper from your garbage disposal if it’s removable. Yours may not be, and in the process of trying to see if it was removable, you may discover that the underside of that rubber stopper is disgusting. You’re hoping that this will get it out, but if it’s not, you need to make sure to clean that.
Step 2. Use the Baking Soda and Vinegar Combo
The next step is to dump in about half a box of baking soda and then pour in one cup of white vinegar. Run more water through it and then turn on the disposal.
Next, for the science project part, vinegar—watch it fizz.
The odor is gone, but the only problem is now it smells like fish and chips in here, which brings you to your next solution.
If you happen to have a fresh lemon on hand or one that’s going bad that you haven’t had a chance to use in time, just cut it in half, run the lemon through the disposal, and then follow up with some vinegar.
You may love lemon-scented things like a lemon-scented hand soap, but the smell of fresh lemons in the kitchen is always good. The smell will disappear, and you’ll have a wonderful lemon scent left behind after your garbage disposal is cleaned.
Now, some people think that all you need is baking soda and water, but there’s something special about using the baking soda and vinegar together. It’s kind of like a science project. You may have tried vinegar by itself, and it just drains out immediately and does nothing. If you use just baking soda and flush it with water, it also doesn’t do much. But when you combine the two, you get a chemical reaction that cleans and deodorizes way better.
Step 3. Clean the Garbage Disposal Rubber Stopper
Now, it is time to clean the rubber stopper in your garbage disposal. When you remove your rubber stopper, if yours is removable, it probably hasn’t been cleaned in a while. So, make sure to pop it in the dishwasher for a quick wash.
Step 4. Use a Foaming Cleaner for Non-Removable Rubber Stopper
Now, for the commercial method, if you’re not the DIY type and you just want to drop a tablet in and have it do something, there’s a solution for you, too. Just put a garbage disposal foaming cleaner inside your disposal and let it do its job.
Now, the way these cleaners look inside may not be what you expect. These are biodegradable packages. You’re going to put this right into the disposal without opening it and pour the contents out.
So, the first thing you need to do is to turn off your garbage disposal completely. Also, make sure there’s nothing in it, and then you’re going to run a stream of hot water into the disposal side of the kitchen sink, but not directly into the disposal. After one minute, reduce the amount of hot water to a trickle.
Next, you’re going to just put the cleanser down in there, which may seem weird. Now, you want to be sure to make the water a trickle. Keep doing it until all this foam entirely disappears into the hole.
Now, just rinse out this one.
The results will be crazy. Why? Well, when the biodegradable pouch comes into contact with water and the disposal action, a cleaning foam is created. It scrubs away the toughest grunge buildup and foul odors from the entire disposal, including the blades, sidewalls, and splash guards.
Step 5. Do the Manual Cleaning of the Garbage Disposal Rubber Stopper
All right, now that that’s done and it’s so sparkly clean, your next thing is to see if you still need to clean the underside of your rubber stopper. So, test it out. Put on some gloves because it’s gross.
So, take a microfiber cloth and just clean that out with some bleach to cut the grease trapped in the garbage disposal rubber stopper. Now, thoroughly clean the rubber stopper and the area around it.
That’s certainly going to cause some smell—all that rotting food stuck under there. Afterward, don’t forget to toss that microfiber cloth in the wash now because it’s truly disgusting.
Step 6. Final Sink Cleaning
Now that you’re done flushing out the garbage disposal, it’s a good time to give your whole sink a wash. You can use any sink cleaner for that purpose, but be sure to use one that cleans as much as bleach but doesn’t ruin your hands.
And there you go! A sparkly clean sink plus a garbage disposal that doesn’t stink anymore.
Final Note
So now you know what to do if your garbage disposal stinks. Instead of giving you different useless methods, this guide covers one step-by-step method that works every time, and helps you get rid of smells naturally and keep your sink fresh..
Sometimes, the reason your garbage disposal smells bad goes beyond leftover food or grease. If you’ve cleaned it good and the stink is still there, there might be something else going on with the unit or pipes that needs attention. If that’s the case, you can always reach out to California Coast Plumbers. They’ll inspect your garbage disposal, fix the problem fast, and leave your kitchen smelling fresh again.