Odor in Garbage Disposal

Have you checked the obvious? The little rubber gasket slitted piece that covers the drain? Remove it (most of them just lift right out and you just press them back in place) and look at the underside!

It doesn't take very long for that hidden side to get really nasty. I try to remove mine and clean it about once a week or at least every other week.

You can also use vinegar to clean. It is a little smelly when you first pour it, but the smell goes away right after you finish.

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Any citrus fruit at all, quartered and tossed into a running garbage disposal will clean and freshen it. I have orange trees in my backyard and right now all the fruit is green....but it still works just fine and it's free. :) If you have any citrus growing in your yard, or perhaps your neighbor has a tree, just use whatever is available and it will do wonders. Promise!

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Try pouring in some vinegar. If it's really bad, I use the baking soda with the vinegar. It will bubble up but it eats away whatever is down there. That works as a great cleaner in the toilet, too.

I cut up a lemon and then put it down the disposal-rind and all-it helps to freshen it up.

I know lemons work for the sink disposal thing. I'm not exactly sure the garbage one works, but you can maybe give that a try!

Lemons and ice. Put both in your disposal and run it for a minute. I do this about once a month and it works. Plus my DH was a plummer and he said it won't break your disposal.

have you put the b;each in and left it in there over night? try that. or baking soda.

Ut-oh! If it's not clearing up with bleach this could be a bad sign! We had a terrible plumbing problem a couple years ago that started with noticing a bad smell from the garbage disposal drain.... When we had the plumber come in to diagnose the problem he told us that the bad odor is often the first clue and sign that something worse is happening further down the pipe system. Hopefully yours is not such a bad problem, but the smell was our sign that we had a pipe under our slab that had broken and water was draining under the house, hense the bad smell out the other end of the pipe that wouldn't go away!

Good luck.... I would call for a free evaluation. We used the Drain Team and were pleased.

Little wedges of lemon or lime, and some salt while running the disposer - the salt helpt to rub all of the leftover slimy or dried stuff off. Good luck!

Try adding a lemon peel to disposal. Using a disposal is actually a waste of energy. The "disposed" food gets mixed with water and then the treatment plant has to separate it again (more water). Better off putting in trash to begin with and composting.

I had the same problem a while ago. I researched on the internet for some ideas, and there were a lot of the lemon peel options, but the one I found that worked the best was this: lots and lots of soapy water. It probably smells because of the dried food on the interior sides of the unit that don't get washed down when the disposal is on. Stop up opening and fill the sink with hot, soapy water (several gallons), then turn on the disposal and let out the water. It will swish around the inside of the unit. I do this periodically when I'm washing dishes by hand, so I have the sink already full of water, and maybe add some more dish soap and water before I drain it into the disposal.

Try Baking Soda, it works for mine.

Try grinding up orange and or lemon peels in the disposal

Grind up some ice and then throw in some lemons.

Have you tried putting in baking soda and letting it sit there for a while before you wash it down? That worked for me in the past. Good luck!

Hey there M.! I had recently been having the same issue with one of the sides of our double sink (we tend to keep a washbin over the side that doesn't have the disposal) and I was thinking maybe some thing got caught down that side or that it was moldy or something weird...
I wanted to avoid supper chemical drain cleaners, and using regular bleach since neither one is good for the environment....so i looked up how to clean drain eco-consciously on a google search and found a site that suggested a few things-
I tried running hot water(didn't work),1/2-1 c chlorine-free bleach (helped a little but has to be done every couple of days)
And finally old fashioned baking soda and white vinegar!! Seemed to do the trick and can be done in small amounts (1tbsp Bsoda with 1/2 c vinegar) for weekly maintenance or larger amounts 1/4-1/2c Bsoda with several cups vinegar-added slowly!) for bigger problems like grease build up or clogs....Coooooool! Very grade school science experiment! Just add the vinegar a little at a time though so you don't have a big mess to clean up!!

i cut a lemon in half and put both pcs down into my garbage disposal weekly. it freshens it up immediately.

Crack a few eggs and either cook or dispose of the eggs and put the egg shells in the disposal along with regular dish soap. Also scrub the under side of the plastic thingy at the drain.

I agree with the lemons, but, you can also find these little things called Plink at the grocery store or Walmart. They look like bath beads but you put them in the disposal and they release a lemon scent when you turn it on. They also sell disposal cleaner where the dishwasher soaps are. They have these little powder packets that foam when they hit water and they work great to clean the disposal...they are all fairly cheap ideas!

Are you pouring the bleach in and leting it set over night?
It won't do any good just to put it in and run it. Personally, I suggest vinegar. Just pour some in. Let it set over night and it should smell a lot better. Once a week put a little viinegar in it to keep it fresh. You can also use vinegar to take odors out of the air. Buy a sprayer and mix 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. We use that instead of buying spray. Works great. It removes the odors and after a few seconds there is no vinegar smell either. It's great for the enviroment.

There's a product called affresh you can use http://www.affresh.com/#/home

I know I've used another little packet or tablet that I found in the cleaning aisle.

Also- I heard lemon works well..........baking soda might not hurt as well.

we use ice cubes and baking soda with white vinegar and turn it on smell gone :)

i cut up a lime and throw it in there and run the disposal. Smell goes bye bye!

Hi M.,
Use a part of a lemon (fresh)...I cook with them a lot, so, take 1/2 of one skin and all put it down and it should take care of it...might try some drano? that has bleach in it...if the lemon doesn't work...I put it down mine at least once a week (lemon) that is, and don't have any problems. Good Luck!

I always try orange peels (or whole oranges/grapefruits) also boiling water seems to help.
Good luck

First, I put baking soda and let it sit there before I wash it down. Then, I cut a whole lemon in half and stick it in the disposal, turn on the disposal and voila, your whole kitchen will smell of freshly squeezed lemons.

My husband says ice is the best cleaner!

I'm guessing I'm the tenth person to tell you this since I can't see anyone else's answers yet, but lemons or lemon rinds will get rid of it..

Hi M.. Try baking soda. Run hot water in the sink and pour a good bit of baking soda down the drain while the water is running, then turn on the disposal for a few moments. Then flush with clear water only. That should help.