Broken glasses can be dangerous—especially when lodged into a garbage disposal. Plus, according to the environmental rules, leaving pieces of glasses in garbage disposal not only hurts the environment but can also endanger your life. However, removing the glass from garbage disposal can be a tricky ordeal—especially if you are new to this handling glass. Remember, glass can cause serious injuries. Care must be taken.
But if the glass didn’t cause any major damages, you can remove the particles using a wrench or a broomstick. You could also opt to vacuum the disposal. However, if doing this doesn’t bring out the glass then you might want to remove the unit and shake it rigorously. Check out the following steps to get rid of glass material stuck in your garbage disposal. They’re safe and highly effective.
Start With Small Pieces
How big are the pieces of glass? Are they large? Have they jammed your disposal blades? Determine their sizes. There are those pieces that are small enough and can be turned to buy your disposal blades. And if you ascertain that they are small in size, consider running cold water in your garbage disposal. Remember, small pieces don’t harm the blades. Instead, they make them sharper. Once you are through with grinding those tiny glass shards, ensure the sink is filled with lots of water. Then allow things to drain into the disposal. This will remove any glass stuck in the disposal’s blades.
Go To Larger Pieces
Don’t grind large pieces in the disposal. Doing so will jam the disposal—making it more difficult when it comes to removing the glass. Also, be sure to turn off the disposal. Plus, keep your hands away from the disposal—glass can injure your hands. From here, use kitchen tongs to grip the glass. Don’t rush. Slowly and carefully grasp the pieces and put them in a safe container. Do this again and again till every glass is out of the garbage.
Alternatively, you could chop off the bottom of a big, raw potato that’ll perfectly fit through the opening of your garbage disposal. Once done, try jamming the potato down onto the lower surface of the disposal. The force exerted during entry will embed some pieces of the broken glass into the potato. Repeat the process with more potatoes until you’ve gotten rid of all the large glass pieces.
Start Running the Disposal
When you’re done removing all the glass pieces, turn on your cold water tap as well as the disposal to check if the disposal is functioning properly.
Consider Resetting the Disposal
If it fails to turn on, you might need to reset your disposal. Switch off the power switch, press the reset button located at the bottom of the unit, and then switch on the power supply again.
Dislodging the Disposal Blades
In case some pieces of glass have become wedged into the blades of your disposal and have become lodged, put off the unit and using an Allen wrench try removing the glass particles. Remove the wrench and switch on the power.
Go Fishing
Don’t sink your hand inside the disposal in the hope to remove some glass particles. Instead, utilize a pair of small-sized pliers and start pulling out the pieces you can find. Remember, most of the larger particles will tend to live toward the upper side of the drain’s opening.
Vacuum or Bust
Using a Shop Vac, go ahead and such out a glass from the opening of your garbage disposal. But if you don’t have this long-head attachment, consider tape thinning PEX tubing to the drain’s vacuum nozzle. For small nozzles, you may need to suck the glass particles one by one. Though this might take quite long, it’s usually an effective way of removing a glass from your garbage disposal unit.
Turn the Blades
To get rid of the remaining pieces of glass, you’ll have to switch off the blades. Do this with the help of the hex key underneath your disposal unit or by utilizing a broom handle via the drain opening to quickly turn the blades. Be sure to suck up all the remaining glass particles with your vacuum.
Power On
After all the glass has been removed, switch on the power of your garbage disposal. Open the water tap to wash away any tiny pieces that might linger behind. You don’t want to work in a kitchen whose garbage disposal unit isn’t functioning properly, right? Then undertake the right measures and fix this problem in the shortest time possible.
Reinstall
Lastly, you’ll need to reinstall your garbage disposal and continue disposing of your kitchen waste. If you’re able to follow these simple tips, you can always get your unit cleaned and unblocked in no time. Though it may appear as a big issue at first, there’s actually nothing much to worry about.
Key Take Away
Garbage disposal is a must-have for any homeowner. It’s actually what keeps your kitchen in good condition. With an open drain line, however, you’re more likely to drop utensils as well as other materials in the drainage pipe. Items like spoons, forks, and glass can present a big challenge. A stuck glass in your disposal unit can be a real mess. Handle it cautiously or you’ll end up hurting yourself.
Removing the glass from your garbage disposal isn’t very easy. If you turn on your unit without noticing the presence of glass materials, you might damage the inner blades as well as other parts of the disposal. Plus, the unit’s motor can also get hurt by the sharp edges, forcing to purchase a new unit.
Conclusion
It isn’t always an easy task of removing glass from your garbage disposal. Plus, it can be extremely dangerous. With the above steps, however, you can always fix this problem within a few minutes. Remember, pieces of glass can be dangerous. They can injure your hands or get into your food. Therefore, it’s advisable to handle them properly. Plus, ensure you buy the best garbage disposal. Visit garbage disposal Reviews.
