Repairs
Cold Water, Not Hot, Is What You Want Running During a Garbage Disposal
Running hot water while grinding food waste feels like the sanitary choice but is more likely to leave a grease clog downstream.
Fats and oils in food scraps are solid or semi-solid at room temperature. Cold water keeps them that way, so the disposal's blades can shred them into small particles that flush through the trap with the water flow. Hot water melts those fats into a liquid film that travels further down the pipe before cooling and re-solidifying — often at a bend or a narrower section of pipe, where it hardens into a clog.
Run cold water for a few seconds before starting the disposal, through the full grinding cycle, and for another 15-20 seconds after, to flush the ground material well clear of the trap.
Put this into practice
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