If you have a garbage disposal unit in your rental property, it is an additional convenience that can make life easier for your tenants. Garbage disposal units are particularly useful for tenants in the upper levels of a multi-unit complex. With this appliance, they can reduce the number of times they go downstairs to dispose of their garbage.
But garbage disposals can also be a huge headache for landlords. Tenants have a habit of treating the unit as a substitute for their trash can and will use the appliance in ways it is not designed to be used. To reduce the maintenance burden of the garbage disposal, it is vital that your tenants know how to use and how not to use the unit.
The lease agreement should contain clauses specifying the rules guiding the maintenance of the system. To make tenants more responsible, you should make them bear any financial burden that stems from misusing the unit. But before you can do that, you should educate your tenants on the best way to handle the garbage disposal.
Here are the things you need to know about maintaining a garbage disposal unit.
1. Run the garbage disposal regularly
Do not wait until you have something to grind before you run the garbage disposal. Without regular use, the unit can rust or freeze, and leftover food inside the garbage disposal may harden and cause bad odor or clogging.
If you let the garbage disposal sit idle for too long, it is more likely to malfunction when you eventually use it. To keep this from happening, turn on the water every few days and just let the garbage disposal run for a while.
2. Run the garbage disposal for a longer time
When you do use the garbage disposal for grinding food, do not turn off the unit as soon as it is done grinding the waste. Instead, let it run for a little longer after that. Doing this will allow any food left in the drain pipes to get flushed out. This simple step will prevent clogging and keep the garbage disposal from getting jammed. When doing this step, it helps to add a little soap to the water in order to clean out the garbage disposal.
3. Use cold water
Never use hot water when grinding scraps with a garbage disposal. Hot water interferes with the function of the appliance because it melts food, making it harder to dispose of.
Only use cold water with your garbage disposal. Water will naturally keep food scraps moving through the pipes and help to dislodge any debris that is clinging to the machine. But cold water will also coagulate fat, making it solid and easier to get rid of.
4. Cut food waste into small pieces
Even though the blades in the garbage disposal are powerful enough to slice up large chunks of meat or fruit, you should not feed large pieces of food into the unit. This will only increase the strain on the garbage disposal and make it more likely to break down. It also increases the chances that bits of food will get stuck in the appliance. Cut waste into smaller sizes before you feed them into the unit.
5. Clean the appliance with ground citrus fruit
As already stated, you should clean the unit by running cold water and soap through the system every time you use it. But this may not be enough to get rid of small particles of food that cause bad odors. To get rid of those, once in a while, put some orange, lemon, or lime peel in the garbage disposal to help get rid of odor.
6. Watch what you put into the disposal
Garbage disposals do not have the capacity to handle every kind of waste. These are the things you should never feed into the appliance:
- Fibrous fruit and veggies
Potato skins, banana peels, corn husks, celery, and other stringy foods must never go into the garbage disposal. Their fibers will wrap around the motor of the appliance and damage it.
- Coffee grounds
Coffee grounds will clog the drains to the point where the pipes are completely blocked. Coffee grounds and garbage disposal units should never be allowed to meet.
- Eggs
Tossing eggs in the garbage disposal will damage it. Eggshells will not help to sharpen the grinder’s blades. Instead, the egg membrane will stick to the grinder.
- Rice, pasta, and oatmeal
These expand when water is added to them. They turn into a thick slurry that wraps around the blades of the garbage disposal.
- Grease and oils
Oil may solidify once inside the disposal. Grease and oil also make the disposal slippery, making it harder to grind waste.
- Fruit pits, seeds, and bones
If you cannot cut it with a knife, it should not get into the garbage disposal. Fruit seeds or pits, and bones should be disposed some other way.