How to use the Garbage Disposal

First of all, do NOT put your hand in the garbage disposal!!!  You can lose a finger or worse, a hand.  It is very sharp and will work great for you if you take care of it.

Here is a great link if you wanna read more about garbage disposal usage.  http://www.wikihow.com/Maintain-a-Garbage-Disposal

It is really quite easy to use and can be very helpful.  Use it to put small things down the sink.  Things means food items only!  Make sure that anything you put down the sink has been cut into small enough pieces that it fits down the sink easily.  Do not put down any egg shells, banana peels, bones, ...

Not sure if you have a garbage disposal?  IF you have something under your sink that looks like this, then you have a garbage disposal.

Look around on the wall for a switch that will turn the garbage disposal on and off.  Be sure that the COLD water is running before you start the disposal.  The cold water will help to clean the garbage away.  Do not use hot water, it actually causes things to stick to the warmed pipes down in the drain.

The disposal is most often used for fruit peelings and if your disposal gets smelling, putting these down the disposal with make it smell better.  IF you do not use your disposal, still run some fruit peeling down it once a month to keep it smelling nice.

Turn on the cold water, drop in your peelings, and after you have all hands away ... then you flip the switch.  Turn off the switch when the grinding if complete, and then turn off the water.

To be honest with you, I use this little screen in my sink to collect most garbage and then just dump it into the trash can.  It is just so much easier.  I also keep those plastic bags from the produce at the grocery store and put old food in there and then tie it off.

Take your trash out often or you will get gnats and they are hard to get rid of.  Also, do not put a pot of food on your porch or your bagged trash on the porch, go find the dumpster.  

You can pour most kitchen liquid food down your disposal.  Do NOT pour grease down your garbage disposal.

IF something should go down the sink, use the tongues to get it out.  NOT your hand!

IF you should hear something that is in the disposal after you turned on the water and flipped the wall switch, turn off the wall switch, then turn off the water.  Wait for a few seconds and then reach in with your tongues and pull out whatever was down in there.

Yes, this really happens!  I pulled a spoon out once.  Now, I keep my strainer screen in the sink almost all the time.  IF you do not use your disposal, just put some regular kitchen soap down it from time to time with it running to keep it smelling fresh.

Please feel free to ask any questions related to the topic of the GARBAGE DISPOSAL or to post suggestions for what we can explain next.  We will try to update the main post often if we can think of anything else.