Have you noticed that whenever you do your dishes, your garbage disposal tends to act up, and the soapy dirty water begins to back up?
As this happens, you will notice that gunk will begin to float in and around the sink disrupting your washing exercise.
What do you do to unclog the garbage disposal in your sink? There are several ways to unclog your garbage disposal, but there is one way that stands out, and that is the baking soda way.
You can use baking soda to unclog the garbage disposal if you have this problem. You do not need to contact a plumber to get it done.
In this guide, you will learn how to unclog the garbage disposal without having to call an expensive plumber.
Table of Contents
Unclog Garbage Disposal with Baking Soda
Whether it is your sink or the bath’s garbage disposal that needs to be unclogged, you can make use of baking soda.
Asides from the fact that baking soda is a vibrant cleaning agent, baking soda also helps in loosening gunk and other mess.
You may be tempted to think that the baking soda method will not work, but in the end, it will because it is quite effective!
Fill a pot of water and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiled, pour the whole water into the garbage disposal drain.
Then take about a cup or half cup of baking soda, and pour the dry content into the garbage disposal opening. Once this has been done, cover the opening of the garbage disposal drainage for at least 10 minutes to allow the mixture to work properly.
Afterward, uncover again and pour another pot of boiling water into the opening of the garbage disposal. Then you can get a plunger and begin to work with it, or better still, the loose gunk and grime will begin to fall loosely into the drainage pipe.
The standing water in the sink or bath will begin to reduce now because the drainage has been cleared.
Use baking soda and vinegar to unclog
It all depends on the material you have at home. If you are not fully satisfied with using baking soda alone, then you can add vinegar. Vinegar and baking soda act as catalysts when they meet.
A reaction is caused, and together, they can break up gunk, greasy, and hard deposits, hindering a smooth drainage system.
If you have vinegar in the home, then you can work around it.
You can mix the pot of boiling water with vinegar and pour it down the garbage disposal to loosen the dirt.
In addition, pour the baking soda into the garbage disposal, then leave for 8 minutes.
Afterward, pour another pot of boiling water, and you will see that the gunk will begin to loosen, and the water will begin to pass through.
Your garbage disposal wouldn’t drain despite unclogging with baking soda
When your garbage disposal wouldn’t drain even after pouring in some hot water and baking soda down the garbage disposal, here is what you should do.
Repeat the hot water and baking soda process again, and this time, apply more pressure when pouring water into the garbage disposal.
You will see the specks of dirt floating out and passing through the drainage.
Then the standing water will now become leveled.
Does baking soda automatically clean the unclogged drainage disposal and give it some fragrance?
Baking soda in itself doesn’t carry any fragrance. However, it cleans perfectly and automatically.
But if you would like to have some kind of nice fragrance from a natural cleaning agent, you can use lemon.
Or better still, get fresh lemon peels. You can cut a lemon in half, put one in a pot and bring it to a boil.
Then pour the lemon water into the garbage disposal together with the hot water. You will observe that even after washing and unclogging your sink or bath, the fragrance will still be there.
Unclog without using baking soda
Especially when you have water still in your sink refusing to go through the garbage disposal, then you may need to make use of a plunger. Get your plunger and make an attempt to clean the drain.
Now, this may not work because of certain reasons, and at other times, it may work.
You can also decide to make use of a wrench to make a spin on the rotor; then you can now use the plunger then you will now see the water reducing and flowing through the garbage disposal.
Now you have successfully unclogged the garbage disposal.
Can you use bleach to unclog your garbage disposal?
Whatever isn’t mentioned in this guide as a remedy for unclogging drainage disposal shouldn’t be used.
And using bleach to unclog your garbage disposal is one of them.
Do not use bleach, and do not use a drain cleaner to unclog the garbage disposal because these two cleaning agents have no effect and don’t come in handy as far as unclogging is concerned.
The approved cleaning agents like baking soda and vinegar have been approved to unclog the garbage disposal because they are fit for loosening gunk and grime.
Can you use ice cubes to unclog your garbage disposal?
Ice cubes are the same thing as the water running from the faucet. Only the ice cubes are frozen water. Imagine that all the gunk in the garbage disposal is frozen.
How would you unclog the drain? It is with the help of hot or steaming boiling water.
Do not use ice cubes to unclog because they can worsen the case instead.
The greasy mess in the drain or fat needs to be loosened with the aid of hot water and baking soda to cut through the fatty dirt and tear them down until the drainage is free.
Although, there are some who still make use of ice cubes to unclog their garbage disposal.
However, when you add some ice cubes to the garbage disposal, turn on the faucet and let the water keep running, and then turn on the garbage disposal unit. And there you go, as the dirt will be flushed out.
Meanwhile, it is better to stick to hot water instead.
Can you use salt to unclog the garbage disposal instead of baking soda?
Salt can be used, but then, it is much better to concentrate on baking soda instead.
Just in case you don’t have baking soda at home, you can consider using salt as well.
Particularly rock salt. Pour hot water into the garbage disposal opening, then pour in half a cup of rock salt afterward, leave for a few minutes, then pour in another pot of hot water. This will help to loosen the dirt.
Can you use dish soap to unclog the garbage disposal?
Mild dish soap is good. It helps to cut through the fat in the garbage disposal.
But it doesn’t loosen the dirt. Although it can be used to unclog the garbage disposal, it will be much better to use baking soda instead.
Can you use ketchup to unclog your garbage disposal instead of baking soda?
Ketchup is a sauce, but it also has some little acid component that helps in cleaning as well. We would suggest that you stick to baking soda and allow your ketchup to be.
Even though the ketchup cleans stains from your sink, it may not be able to loosen the dirt and the greasy mess or fat in the drain. So you need a loosening cleaning agent instead.
You cannot continue to throw contents that would worsen the state of the garbage disposal.
The goal is to unclog the garbage disposal and not make it worse.
Ketchup may not give you your desired result, but baking soda will work perfectly to unclog your garbage disposal.
Is it safe to use baking soda to unclog your garbage disposal?
It is totally safe to use baking soda to unclog your garbage disposal in your sink or bath.
Baking soda itself is a perfect cleaning agent. Asides from that, it is safer and more effective in loosening dirt.
Baking soda is also an eco-friendly cleaning agent, so if you are an eco-environment activist, then you have a bonus by using an eco-friendly product for your garbage disposal.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you must double-check to be sure that nothing is clogging or stuck to the blades of the garbage disposal before unclogging it.
Sometimes, your garbage disposal may just be stuck with tiny particles stuck around the blades. And these particles need to be flushed down within a few minutes.
It doesn’t take much time, like an unclogged garbage disposal.
You can make use of a flashlight to see the inside of the opening in case you cannot see properly.
And you can get an old toothbrush to help do some washing for you and to reach into places after pouring hot water and baking soda into the drain.
