Holidays mean food, and here in Glenview, IL, you may be looking at a gaggle of family and friends coming over for sumptuous meals. We get a large number of calls every holiday season dealing with clogs and backups with all that rich food. Garbage disposals can take care of some of it, but you can do yourself a big favor by paying careful attention to what you toss down your kitchen drain. Above all, avoid tossing down the following foods.
- Bones and Fruit Seeds. Chicken bones, turkey bones and beef bones can seriously damage a garbage disposal, as well as causing serious backlogs in the pipes if they somehow get down there. There same can be said of peach pits, cherry pits and other hard fruit seeds. Dispose of them in the trash instead of the garbage disposal
- Fibrous Vegetables. This includes celery stalks, potato peelings and carrot peelings, which can wrap around the garbage disposal blades and gum up the works. If they get into the pipes, they can tangle up and cause clogs very quickly.
- Coffee Grounds. Coffee grounds are hard and sandy, which spells trouble for a garbage disposal. They also have a tendency to swell when exposed to water, which can result in a blockage.
- Fats, Grease and Oil. Hot grease and oil can be poured down your pipes in liquid form, then hardens in the coolness of your plumbing to create a stopped-up mess. Place them in a glass contained to harden, then throw them away in the trash.
- Rice and past have a tendency to swell, like coffee grounds, which can combine in the pipes to stop the flow of water. Carefully remove them from plates after a meal and avoid rinsing them down the drain.
For professional help unclogging pipes, call upon Reliance Plumbing, Sewer and Drainage today!