For many Windy City lovers shopping for apartments in Chicago IL, the garbage disposal is a must-have for the kitchen. They make life easier by ensuring that your sink doesn’t get backed up, and you never need to worry about food accidentally going down the drain. Sometimes things don’t go completely down, sometimes they get backed up, and sometimes they don’t smell so sweet, though. Here’s how to keep your garbage disposal happy and your kitchen smelling fresh and clean.
Clean Your Sink
If your garbage disposal is smelling funny, sometimes all that’s needed is to make sure the area around your disposal is clean. Clean your sink regularly, paying attention to the top of the disposal entrance and outer rim. Then periodically take a toothbrush and clean the interior feeding tube with baking soda, making sure there’s no risk the disposal will turn on while doing so.
Add a Splash of Citrus
While citrus fruits and peels won’t actually clean your disposal, they will ensure that it smells fresh. Feed all your peels into the disposal. After you clean your disposal, cut an orange, lemon, or lime into quarters and feed the slices one at a time into the disposal while running hot water. Allow the disposal to keep grinding for a few seconds after the fruit has been passed through.
Clean With Salt and Ice
While older disposal models had blades that could be dulled by ice, newer models use a grinding mechanism to pulverize food. The best salt for disposal cleaning is coarse kosher salt or rock salt. Pour ice into the drain, filling it up completely. Turn the disposal on and slowly pour a half cup of salt into the drain. Turn on the hot water afterward to rinse the drain.
Vinegar and Baking Soda
For deep-cleaning and smelly odors, the fizzy chemical reaction of baking soda and vinegar can help remove the lingering residue of greasy ingredients. Pour a cup of baking soda into the disposal and then add a cup of vinegar. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes. Then pour boiling water into the drain to clear it. Tip: Do not use chlorine bleach to clean your garbage disposal.
If you’re shopping for Chicago, IL apartments, you want a well-appointed kitchen. For more information about the kitchen amenities available at the Belden Stratford community, come by today and check out our available floor plans!