The garbage disposal is an unsung hero in any home, selflessly relieving us of the burden and odor of old, rotting food. But what happens when that hero faces a problem that’s too challenging to solve on its own?

The problem - When your overworked garbage disposal is out of steam, it’s unable to do its job to the fullest. The food remnants it fails to eliminate start to stink up your kitchen, a place that should typically be filled with the mouth-watering aroma of the delicious meal you’re about to serve, or the fruity hand soap you keep on hand.

This is an all-too-common experience for homeowners. You might be making yourself a delicious lunch. Suddenly, you notice a slight odor wafting up into your nostrils. Eventually, that smell becomes too much to bear, and you’re left wondering how you can make it disappear.

In this article, we will explore what causes these offensive odors and highlight a few effective methods to eliminate them, so your kitchen can be your comfort zone again.

What Causes Smells in Garbage Disposals?

Your garbage disposal is probably one of the most used appliances in your home. With so much use, sometimes this handy appliance can wear out. This leaves the door open for that offensive odor to creep in. But why? What’s the culprit behind the scenes? Here are the most common problems that might be causing your sink to smell.

Food Particles

This is one of the more obvious reasons for a bad smell. Your disposal primarily deals with getting rid of food. When that food begins to decompose, it gives off an unpleasant odor.

Although most modern garbage disposals are self-cleaning, food particles can stick to the grinders. This is perfectly normal, and old chunks of food will usually drain from the disposal after a couple of days. Sometimes, though, these food particles just won’t budge. Over time, they can cause your garbage disposal to develop an unpleasant odor.

You Don’t Run Your Disposal For Long Enough

If you run your disposal for a short amount of time, you’re setting up your garbage disposal for failure. When you don’t run the appliance for the proper amount of time, you’re not getting rid of food and grime efficiently. We recommend running it for 15-30 seconds.

If you aren’t running it that long, try running your garbage disposal for longer and give it enough time to absorb and eliminate all the food particles and other nasty stuff. Make sure your water flows from the faucet while you run the disposal to ensure all those pesky food particles are filtered out.

Leaking Pipes

The worst-case scenario for that pesky smell is your garbage disposal pipes leaking. While still fixable, leaky pipes will definitely take the most work to DIY. If you lack previous experience successfully fixing leaking pipes, we highly recommend contacting a professional. Otherwise, the problem could end up becoming much worse.

The first step when fixing leaking pipes should be to avoid using your sink and garbage disposal. Once you’ve confirmed both of those are turned off, inspect the piper under the sink. If your garbage disposal pipes are loose you can try to retighten them with the proper tools.

If it’s a case of old pipes, you will have to call in a professional. Once the pipes are fixed, you’ll want to clean around the pipes to make sure that everything that dripped out is gone.

Now that you understand a few of the usual suspects that could be causing your drain to smell, let’s look at a few effective methods that can help eliminate those smells and get things back to normal.

How to Get Rid of Garbage Disposal Smells

While we typically recommend working with a professional for any garbage disposal repairs, for you DIYers out there, here are a few ways you can try to combat the stink by yourself. These options range from simple to somewhat complex. Depending on how bad your problem is, you might have to try all of the methods to see what works before you land on the best solution.

We also like to test the easiest options first in the hopes of saving time and money, so let’s kick things off with the cheapest, quickest, and easiest solution. If this works, you’re golden.

Run Hot Water

The simplest fix to get rid of garbage disposal smells is to continuously run hot water down your drain while your garbage disposal is running. While this won’t always work, it is a good start to evaluate how bad the problem is, and if it does work, it will save you tons of time and money.

If some hot water is enough to fix your smelly problem, that means you probably caught it at an early stage. The hot water alone was enough to unclog the blades. To avoid any future problems, we recommend being proactive, running your hot water longer each time you use the disposal. After you’re done running it, leave the water on for a few more seconds to help leftover debris part from the walls and run down into the drain.

Rinse With Soapy Water

If running some hot water isn’t enough to defeat that pesky smell, you’ll need to escalate your efforts. The next trick you can try starts with filling the sink with hot, soapy water. Once filled, allow it to drain while you’re running your garbage disposal.

While similar to the hot water method, the soap allows for a more thorough cleaning. It’s especially useful if you’re able to use a quality grease-cutting detergent to help with any grease or food stuck to the disposal blades.

Salt and Ice

If pouring liquids down the disposal isn’t helping combat the smell, the next DIY method you can try is to leverage the power of salt and ice to clear out your disposal. Using ice provides helpful friction with the potential to dislodge any leftover food particles.

Place 8-12 ice cubes in the sink around your disposal. Grab ½ cup of salt and sprinkle it over the ice cubes. Turn the disposal on and push everything towards the opening. Once your disposal has processed everything, flush it with cold water for 1-2 minutes.

Baking Soda and Vinegar

Baking soda and vinegar is a versatile cleaning combo. From removing tough stains from your carpet to cleaning out your disposal, this dynamic duo gets the job done. This is commonly called “deodorizing” an appliance. The chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar can help dissolve food particulars and odorous bacteria/

If you’ve tried everything and are still experiencing foul smells from your disposal, here’s what you can do with baking soda and vinegar. Pour about ½ cup of baking soda into your garbage disposal, along with ½ cup of vinegar.

Do not immediately flush it down with water, let the solution sit in your disposal for an hour, then thoroughly rinse with water. We recommend only rinsing and repeating up to two times. If it’s not working after the second attempt, it’s time to reach out for help.

Professional Help

While the above methods can sometimes be effective, if food and grime have become attached to the grinders in your garbage disposal or you have a leaky pipe, most times, you need to call in a professional plumbing company.

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Port St Lucie specializes in garbage disposal repair and replacement. We can repair damaged garbage disposal pipes, clean out grinders, and even upgrade your garbage disposal unit.

Food particles, general grime, leaky pipes, not running your disposal for long enough — these are the main reasons why your garbage disposal stinks. To solve the problem right now, contact Benjamin Franklin Plumbing® of Port St. Lucie at (772) 205-3132.