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Kitchen · November 20, 2025 · 5 min read

What not to put down your garbage disposal (Orlando edition)

Your disposal can take more abuse than your drain can. Here's the list that keeps both happy.

A garbage disposal feels indestructible, so people feed it things they shouldn't. The disposal usually survives — it's the drain downstream that pays the price, especially on our water.

The worst offenders

Keep these out: grease and oil, fibrous vegetables like celery and corn husks, coffee grounds, eggshells, pasta and rice (they swell), bones, and anything starchy that turns to paste. Most of these don't jam the disposal — they slide past it and build up in the pipe.

Why grease is the enemy here

Grease goes down warm and liquid, then cools and hardens in the line, catching everything that follows. Add Orlando's hard-water scale already narrowing older pipes and you've got a recipe for the kind of clogged drain a bottle of gel won't touch. Pour cooled grease in the trash, not the sink.

Disposal myths

Ice doesn't "sharpen the blades" (disposals don't have blades — they have blunt impellers), but grinding ice does help knock off buildup. Lemon peels freshen the smell but don't clean the chamber. And running cold water while you grind is right — it keeps fats solid so they wash through instead of coating the pipe.

If it jams or clogs

A hum with no spin is a jam — cut the power and free the flywheel, then hit reset. If the sink backs up into both basins, the clog is past the disposal in the drain line. Either way, if it won't clear, give us a call before you reach for the chemicals.

Call (407) 555-0123

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