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Garbage disposal...stinks!

ilovegardening
12 years ago

(Wasn't sure whether to post this here or in kitchens. Chose here!)

Our garbage disposal stinks. A lot. We regularly (at least once daily) flush it by dumping the dishwashing water, along with a stream of hot water from the faucet, down it while running it. We've tried lemons (there's a lemon tree in the backyard, so a plethora of lemons is at our fingertips), we've tried bleach, we've tried...lots of stuff. But it's mostly accomplished nothing.

It's not a very old unit.

There's very little waste that actually goes into it--and we're vegetarian, so the little that does slip past being scraped for compost doesn't involve rotting dead animal flesh.

But the stench... Wow. Any ideas on how to get rid of the smell?!

Comments (9)

  • asolo
    12 years ago

    Before doing anything else, I'd remove the rubber boot at the drain entrance and inspect. Should yank right out....likely held only by indents. That's where crud likes to collect and ferment and can't get flushed out by the action further down.

  • plllog
    12 years ago

    Is your drain vented properly?

  • deeageaux
    12 years ago

    The best place to post is in the plumbing forum.

    Post what garbage disposal you have too.

  • asolo
    12 years ago

    I had assumed, perhaps mistakenly, that the "smell" was fermenting/rotting food smell. That would indicate trouble localized to the unit and is why I suggested removing the boot and inspecting. If it's a sewer smell, that would be an entirely different issue.

  • weissman
    12 years ago

    Have you tried baking soda?

  • User
    12 years ago

    Is this perhaps an island sink? If so, then I'd suspect that your Studor vent is no longer working properly.

  • ilovegardening
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the input so far.

    No, it's not an island sink, yes, the drain is vented properly (to the best of my knowledge), yes, we've tried baking soda, and there's no plumbing issue anywhere in the house (we just had ALL the pipes replaced, including under the house, a few weeks ago).

  • angie_diy
    12 years ago

    Did the stench start at the same time that you had all the major plumbing work done?

  • asolo
    12 years ago

    Ditto Angie DIY.....is the smell new as of a few weeks ago?