Don’t let Thanksgiving overwork your disposal
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and families across the country are gathering together and cooking huge meals… then cleaning up after those meals and sending bits of turkey fat, cranberry sauce, and potatoes down their garbage disposals. As drain cleaners and plumbers, one of our busiest days of the year is the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of Black Friday shopping, a lot of people in the Chic
ago area stand over clogged kitchen sinks, calling us to come out and clear their drains.
Taking care of a lot of holiday meal preparation (and cleaning up the aftermath) near the kitchen sink is a huge temptation to send large pieces of food into the garbage disposal and down the drain. Even the toughest disposals on the market today still only turn food into a mush, which makes it easier to slide down a drain, but it can never be a liquid- which means overloading a drain with too much food can clog it. Especially starchy foods like potato peelings, which can expand and thicken the water around it; and celery, which is stringy and hard for a disposal to thoroughly chop up- it can be pretty easy to overwork a disposal and clog a drain on Thanksgiving Day.
You can prevent this by limiting the amount of food you send down the disposal. Avoid pouring gravy down the drain, turkey parts, skins, bones, and other greasy substances which can quickly build up and cause a clog. Throw meat and bones in the trash in a tightly-sealed bag to keep raccoons and other animals from sniffing it out and tearing through it in the trash can. Vegetables and other large pieces of food should be thrown in the trash. Or if you have a garden, you may want to look into creating a small compost heap or sealed compost bin. Even in cold weather, organic materials like fruits and vegetables (just about any food except meats and greases) can be composted and turned into great fertilizer for a garden.
With family in town and kids visiting from college with full laundry baskets a lot more people are doing laundry and taking showers this weekend, so take care of your drains and watch for signs of slow-moving water.
Happy Thanksgiving from The Scottish Plumber!