Clean out your sink. Remove all dishes, sponges, and other items. While your garbage disposal is off, check inside to make sure there is no lingering debris, such as chicken bones or nuts. These tough foods aren’t meant to be ground down by a garbage disposal, but it’s easy to accidentally toss them into the machine anyway. (This could also be the source of a lingering stench!) Pull any of these stragglers out of the drain and dispose of them in the garbage.
Turn on the hot water and add the dish soap. Run the faucet straight down the drain. Once the water is hot, add a few drops of dish soap into the drain.
Turn on the garbage disposal. Simultaneously run the garbage disposal and the faucet for about three minutes. Depending on how concentrated your dish soap is, you may want to add an additional drop or two of soap periodically as the faucet runs. When time is up, turn off the faucet and the garbage disposal.
Place ice cubes into the drain. With the garbage disposal off, put about a cup of ice cubes into the drain.
Turn on the garbage disposal. With your hands far away from the drain, turn on the garbage disposal and let it run until the sound of crushing ice subsides.
Run the hot water one more time. Once the ice is fully gone, leave the garbage disposal on and run the hot water again for about 30 seconds. Then turn the garbage disposal off.
This article was edited by Ingrid Skjong and Courtney Schley.
