"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
news:4Djaj.5820$Xh1.2340@trndny03...
> Do you have one? Do you use it?
>
> I ask because I have one that I very rarely use. My sink has a tendency
> to clog and every time I use the disposal, I fear that it will clog again.
>
> When we bought this house about 3 years ago, the sink was clogged. I knew
> this. The plumber came out and snaked out the main line. Fine. Until I
> began canning all those apples and pears. I put tons of peels and cores
> down the sink. There is no doubt in my mind I overworked the poor
> disposal.
>
> Called the plumber again. Was told never to put peels of any kind down
> the sink. Or cores. Or seeds. Fine.
>
> Left the house one day while husband was steam cleaning the carpets. I
> begged him not to put the dirty water down the kitchen sink because I was
> tired of it clogging. Told him instead to put it down the sink in the
> garage. Why do we have a sink in there? I don't know, but we do. So
> what did he do? Put it down the kitchen sink.
>
> I came home to a clogged sink. Couldn't manage to unclog it myself which
> I sometimes could by bailing and plunging and running the disposal until
> it released whatever was the problem.
>
> Called the plumber again. He said this time the problem was paint chips.
> White paint chips. I finally determined that it wasn't paint chips but
> egg shells. Or egg peels. Yes, peels. What I was told before never to
> put down there. He also told me that all I needed to do in the case of a
> clog was remove some little piece underneath the sink and clean it out. I
> was kind of afraid to do this for fear of not getting it back on right.
>
> About two weeks went by and yes indeedy I had to call the plumber again!
> This time I have no clue what the cause was, but I was told I needed a new
> disposal. Fine. Also had him put in a new faucet because that was
> starting to leak. And he had to replace some pipes because he said those
> were leaking. Whatever.
>
> So he did all this work and then told me never to USE the disposal. I was
> like... Say what? Why do I have it then? He told me a disposal was only
> meant to handle the lone bite of meat, bit of gravy or couple of peas left
> on a plate. It could handle that just fine, but it could not handle large
> amounts of food and would get clogged if I put too much down it. Said my
> best bet was never to put food down it deliberately and to run plenty of
> hot water down it every day.
>
> Oddly, each time the plumbers came, they commented that there was no
> grease in the trap. They said most clogs were caused by grease but mine
> never were. My parents told me years ago never to put grease down the
> sink and I never did.
>
> But I find this hard to believe that I can never use the disposal. I've
> lived in plenty of places and most of them had disposals. I've never had
> problems like this. Except for the time I tried to put the daisies down
> the disposal. I figured they were kind of like salad. But I've also been
> told salad should never go down the disposal either. In fact I tried
> looking it up and found all sorts of conflicting advice on what I should
> or should not put down it.
>
> Any thoughts?
>

I have an In-Sink-Erator, the cheaper one. It doesn't work worth crap. It
cannot grind up the waste fine enough. The higher end models, that cost 7
times as much, do a pretty swell job, though.

To sum up everything, a compost pile is your best option. You just dump
anything organic, save for meat, into the pile and you are rewarded with a
mulch that is a gift from heaven. You can get these nifty compost bins at
any garden shop.

As for stuff like the carpets, that is what toilets are for. Never use a
drain for what a toilet can do when you are in doubt about clogging. I have
cleaned my carpets and the waste water is mostly solids like cat and human
hair. Quite disgusting. And easily clogs any drain save for a sewer pipe.

Paul