What Can & Can't Go Down a Garbage Disposal?

What Can Go Down

• A garbage disposal can handle a surprising amount of items. Things that are fine to grind include small pieces of potatoes (excluding skins), small pieces of fruit and tomatoes, small amounts of meat and tiny bones. Many veggies are fine to put down the disposal as long as they don't have stringy or fibrous qualities. Size does matter, so keep the amounts small. If you have a large amount of food to dispose of, do it in several stages; don't try to stuff it all down at once.

What Can't Go Down

• Large chunks of meat and any bones other than those that are tiny should not be placed down the disposal. Coffee grounds and egg shells are also no-nos. Corn cobs, celery, lettuce heads, onions, asparagus and artichokes should go elsewhere. Large amounts of pasta can also cause problems with your disposal. Nonfood items are never a good choice. Trash cigarette butts, plastic and metal instead of trying to send them down the disposal.

Maintenance

• Don't stuff the disposal full before running it. Put in a small amount, run the motor and continue with the rest of what you want to dispose of. Run the water for at least 30 seconds every time after grinding up food with the garbage disposal, which will help wash away anything that might be clinging to the blades. Once a week, pour a pot of boiling water down the disposal to banish any fats or greases that might be in residence. Try tossing a few ice cubes in the disposal and running it to break up stuck-on food. If the garbage disposal stalls, turn off the power to it and look down inside to see what might be causing the problem. Remove anything that's jamming it, turn the power back on and hit the reset button -- usually located on the bottom of the unit underneath the sink.

Extra Advice

• If you live in a household with a large number of people, especially children, post a list of things that can and can't go down the disposal near the sink. You can cut down on mishaps by giving people a quick reference when they're using the disposal. If you have large bulky pieces of food that wouldn't fit down a drain pipe, toss them into the trash instead of putting a strain on your garbage disposal.