How to Keep Your Garbage Disposal Smelling Fresh
Bad smell from the disposal is buildup, not a mystery. A couple minutes of maintenance clears it up.
Before you start: this is general information, not a diagnosis of your specific situation. Shut off water where instructed, take your time, and stop if anything looks different than described here. If you're not comfortable at any point, stop and call us — that's what we're here for.
- 1Run cold water and the disposal for 30 seconds first to clear any loose debris.
- 2Grind a handful of ice cubes with the water running — this knocks buildup off the grinding components without damaging them.
- 3Cut a lemon, lime, or orange peel into a few pieces and grind those through too — the citrus oil cuts odor far better than it masks it.
- 4For deeper buildup, pour a half cup of baking soda down, let it sit 10-15 minutes, then follow with hot water and a short run of the disposal.
- 5Make this a once-a-week habit if you use the disposal daily, and always run cold water (not hot) while grinding food waste going forward — it keeps grease solid so it grinds and flushes instead of coating the inside of the unit.
If the smell keeps coming back within a day or two despite cleaning, or it smells more like sewer gas than food, that's not a disposal-cleaning problem — that could be a venting issue, and it's worth a call.
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