How do I clean a smelly garbage disposal?

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7 Tips for Getting Rid of Garbage Disposal Odor | DoItYourself.com

https://www.doityourself.com/stry/8-tips-for-getting-rid-of-garbage-disposal-odor

Biofilm like this has to mechanically and chemically removed. $5 solution:

Buy a couple of long handled scrub brushes & a toilet brush from the dollar store.

Rubber gloves and calcium/lime/mineral deposit cleaner, from there too. Vinegar also.

Run hot water through the disposal. Turn off.

Pour some cleaner on a brush & scrub inside the disposal, up down, round and round.

Be careful you don’t splash the chemicals on your face.

Leaving it off, turn on hot water and try to rinse the brush as you slowly pull it out.

Rinse more off the brush until you feel ok about laying it on old newspapers.

Repeat this with different shaped brushes.

Rinse and run the garbage disposal with hot water in between brushes.

When the brushes come out clean and you’re tired of this. Throw away the brushes, outside trash cans.

The key is extremes in pH for the chemical part. After the trap is rinsed for old biofilm particles, pour down at least a half gallon on the vinegar while running the disposal. No water. Put a stopper over the disposal hole & let it stand overnight.

Rinse in the morning.

If your dishwasher flows into your disposal, it must be treated now. You don’t want that loose biofilm making more babies in that connection.

Run it empty with a gallon of vinegar poured in the bottom & one teaspoon of the lime cleaner, from above. I’d do this at night too, right after the above process.

When you leave for the weekend or vacation, treat all the drains with an enzyme septic system cleaner. Zep makes a blue liquid one that’s about $8 and treats my 9 drains, twice.

It needs to sit for a long time.

Btw, soap makes it’s own biofilm colonies together with algae (slime) in drains.

Hi, Ruth,

Are you placing meat grease or other fats/soft cheeses into the disposal?

Have you removed the rubber gasket and thoroughly cleaned it?

Are you running cold water into the drain for at least 30 seconds after turning off disposal?

Have you checked piping for blockages/grease/soap build up?

Ruth, about every two weeks I turn on my disposal for 3 to 4 minutes and let it run with water running through it full force. Then I turn the disposal and water off and put several drops of Blue Dawn in the disposal and scrub with a brush that has a handle about 6" long. Scrub the bottom, sides and don't forget to scrub the top and bottom of the rubber gasket on the top. Rinse it well and let it run another couple of minutes. That always does the trick for me.

Do you have dishwasher? hose from dishwasher running to disposal needs cleaned out Here's how to access hose & to check, it needs cleaned with vinegar and baking soda hot water. Add quart vinegar to dishwasher with 1 cup baking soda and run on hottest temp. For cleaning disposal add baking soda(1 cup) to disposal then slowly add boiling vinegar(1-2 cups) becareful of alot fizzing let it sit in disposal add lemon cut up then turn on disposal then rinse thoroughly with at least gallon of boiling water while running disposal.

Thank you to all of you! A lot of helpful suggestions!