While your garbage disposal can grind up almost any food waste in a matter of seconds, not everything should go down your drain. Some problematic waste can cause clogged pipes, sewer backups, and other serious residential plumbing problems. To protect your pipes, here are a few items to keep out of your garbage disposal.

What Shouldn’t Go in the Garbage Disposal

1. Bones

Chicken bones will likely just spin around with the blades, but larger bones might damage the garbage disposal. Even if they do get ground up and washed down, bones will almost certainly get caught somewhere in the plumbing system.

2. Coffee Grounds

You might have heard that coffee grounds reduce drain odors, which does work in the short term. However, coffee grounds often condense into thick, pasty clogs that are extremely difficult to remove, so it’s best to dump them into the trash instead of your garbage disposal.

3. Stringy Vegetables

Celery, asparagus, and corn husks are made of stringy fibers that can wrap around the disposal blades and render it inoperable. Throw these on the compost heap instead, along with onion skins, lettuce, kale, and other fibrous vegetables.

4. Oatmeal & Pasta

Your garbage disposal likely won’t shred pasta and oatmeal, which will pass into the pipes intact. Not only do these foods expand in water, but they also tend to clump together into a sticky paste that can quickly form a stubborn clog.

5. Nuts

Uneaten peanuts and walnuts might not seem like a major threat to your residential plumbing system. While you might think the small chunks will wash safely away, you could end up accidentally making a sticky peanut butter mess inside your pipes.

If you run into garbage disposal issues, turn to A-1 Budget Plumbing in Kailua, HI. As one of Oahu’s most trusted residential plumbing contractors, they offer fast, 24-hour service and reliable results. Whether your garbage disposal is clogged or your pipes are leaking in the middle of the night, you can depend on their team of highly trained professionals. Visit their website for more on their residential plumbing services, follow their Twitter for more tips, or call (808) 526-3747 to make an appointment.