Feeding The Garburator Like It’s a Teenage Boy

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Confessions from the R&B Office

You’d think that working for a plumbing company would make our own families model citizens when it comes to kitchen drains. It does not.

Every now and then someone wanders into the office and casually mentions they “might have” put half a lemon, some celery, a handful of coffee grounds or an avocado pit down the garburator. Cue every plumber within earshot to start slowly turning around while simultaneously raising their eyebrows into their remaining hairline.

The funny thing is, we know better. We’ve literally spent years arranging service work for clearing exactly those things from other people’s plumbing. Apparently, knowing and doing are two different skills.

So, in the interest of saving you from an awkward service call (and saving us from fishing another corn husk out of a jammed disposal), here are the five mistakes we see most often.

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1. “It’ll Be Fine…” 

Translation: it was not fine.

First garburator makes a healthy grinding sound……then CLUNK, then Silence. That’s usually when someone remembers the avocado pit, peach pit or stray chicken bone that accidentally fell in.

A garburator isn’t a wood chipper. Hard objects can jam the grinding plate instantly, and sometimes they damage the unit.

We’ve seen:

  • Avocado pits
  • Peach pits
  • Cherry pits
  • Bones
  • Cutlery (yes, often)
  • Bottle caps, and Corks

Granted those last two are usually accidents.

2. The Lemon Myth

There seems to be a widely shared belief that if your garburator smells funny, the solution is to throw a half a lemon in.

While expensive, A little citrus peel smells great! Lemons complete with seeds? Less great. In fact, I have never successfully garburated a lemon rind of any kind even though my partner keeps tossing them down faster than I can pick them out.

Hot soapy water is a better way to clean.

3. The Corn Husk That Sounds Like a Weed Whacker

If you’ve ever heard a garburator making a loud whipping or rattling noise, there’s a decent chance something fibrous is wrapped around the spinning plate.

Common offenders include:

  • Corn husks
  • Celery
  • Onion skins
  • Banana peels
  • Artichokes
  • Asparagus

These long fibers don’t grind well. Instead, they wrap themselves around moving parts like tangled fishing line.

Feeding The Garburator Like It's a Teenage Boy New2

4. The Grease That Pretends to Be Liquid

Everything seems perfectly normal, until three weeks later. Grease doesn’t usually clog the drain immediately. It quietly coats the inside of your pipes, waiting for coffee grounds, rice, pasta and other food particles to stick to it. It’s the plumbing equivalent of cholesterol.

By the time your kitchen sink is draining slowly, the real culprit has often been building up for weeks. This can of course be sent down any drain, not just the garburator. Grease build up down the line will have you booking our drain cleaning service at best, and a restoration service at worst.

5. The “It All Fits” Philosophy

Just because it fits down the sink doesn’t mean it belongs there. I don’t think I’ll ever live down the entire rotten raw chicken breast that I thought would be fine, it was the most disgusting service call I’ve ever received.

We’ve pulled out enough coffee grounds, rice, pasta, eggshells, potato peels and mystery leftovers to know that many clogged drains started with someone saying:

“It’ll probably be okay.”

The Nitty Gritty

Usually Fine (in moderation)
✔ Small food scraps
✔ Soft fruit and vegetables
✔ Small amounts of cooked meat (no bones)
✔ Ice cubes every now and then

PRO TIPS: Use COLD water when running it to keep the mechanisms and motor cool. And run the water for way longer than you think you should to flush it all out.

Better in the Compost or Garbage
✘ Grease, oil and fat
✘ Coffee grounds
✘ Eggshells
✘ Rice and pasta
✘ Bread
✘ Potato peels
✘ Corn husks
✘ Celery
✘ Onion skins
✘ Banana peels
✘ Artichokes
✘ Bones
✘ Fruit pits
✘ Seafood shells
✘ Nuts
✘ Anything made of plastic, glass or metal

The good news?
Most garburators are tougher than we give them credit for. They can have as much horse power as… well a horse.

The bad news?
When it comes to garburators, vibration is bad, noise is bad, silence is the worst.

If your sink is draining slowly, your garburator is humming instead of grinding, or you’ve reached the “I think I made it worse” stage, give us a call.

We promise not to judge.

Much.

Call R&B for your garburator and drain cleaning needs, your secret is safe with us!

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