Disposer Dispute - Help Me Settle This

[kevin313]

An age-old question in my house:

Can you put egg shells in the garbage disposer?

I have an Insinkerator 3/4 hp disposer that has been running flawlessly for years. YES - I put egg shells down the drain. I've been told many times that this is a mistake.

What is the consensus?

 

[retropia]

I always put egg shells down the disposer. The plumbing is 53 years old, and the Kenmore disposer is 16 years old. I've had problems with putting potato peels in the disposer, but never egg shells.

 

[jakeseacrest]

Been doing it since the 80s and never a problem

 

[tomturbomatic]

Why would egg shells be a problem? Reminds me of someone who said they could not eat tomatoes because they had difficulty passing the seeds. You are not supposed to put glass down a disposer, but coffee grounds & egg shells are fine. I don't put corn husks & silk down mine. I prepare the corn on a piece of paper and then carry the stuff out to the compost heap. I like the noise and vibration from putting corn cobs in the disposer, however. Corn husks were always the acid test for disposers in CU ratings.

If you have problems with potato peels, throw a few ice cubes into the hopper with them and the cubes will help with the destruction. I had an old disposer in an apt that needed help like that with potato peels. The plumbing in that place was ready to fail big time.

 

[perc-o-prince]

could not eat tomatoes because they had difficulty passing t

Maybe they didn't quite have difficulty passing them, but rather they got stuck in pockets in the diverticulum (diverticulosis), where they would inflame and infect the tissue and he'd get an attack of diverticulitis (painful and requiring antibiotics). Rich's father has had this for many years and was told not to eat tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, popcorn, peanuts (because of that little kernel between the two halves), etc. When I went to the ER for a little pain in the lower frontal area a few years back, they told me I had it after a CT scan, and gave me the same advice. When I went to my GP, he said hogwash, and that the newest studies showed that if you eat enough fiber, it carries everything right through. Ate tomatoes that day, and everything else on that no-no list after that. Rich's father finally listened and asked his new DR who told him the same thing. Just won't touch popcorn yet.

Sorry for the diversion....
Chuck

 

[laundromat]

Hell, I put everything down my disposer from egg shells to beef, chicken and pig bones. I have a 1 HP Insinkerator and have had no issues with it at all.

 

[laundromat]

Hell, I put everything down my disposer from egg shells to beef, chicken and pig bones. I have a 1 HP Insinkerator and have had no issues with it at all.

 

[kevin313]

I was told that egg shells are bad not because they damage the disposer, but because they end up clogging the line.

 

[mrb627]

Egg Shell Clog

I have had to deal with the dredded egg shell clog more than once.  I think the occassional egg shell is ok, but when peeling 3 dozen eggs for deviled eggs, best to collect and throw them in the trash.

 

Malcolm

 

[tomturbomatic]

Or not put them all down the disposer at once. Moderation in all things.

 

[mixfinder]

Do Your Job

If I have a dishwasher that won't clean the dishes its gone to the curb that day. Same way with a disposer, its the job of the machine to grind and dispose of garbage. Fail at the job and to fail to earn a place under my sink. In all of my life I have experienced one disposer clog and for the life of me can't understand it yet. At Patrick's immaculate and perfect home in Portland, I put 4 egg shells in the disposer, turned the water on full blast and started the disposer. It took a little while to realise there was a slow drain and something wasn't right. No chance to hide your tracks and fiz it yourself in another house with the host watching. Removing the cross over pipe from the disposal to the goose neck at the second bowl were the egg shells. Something I may do differently that I believe helps is stopping the sink and filling it with hot water to wash those items that I don't put in the dishwasher and to wipe down the appliances, cabinet and fridge shelves. Then the hot soapy water is released and the sink rinsed with a hot water flush. I wash zillions of people wet a sponge while drippbling some water as they wipe up but this isn't really moving sludge and debris from the inside plumbing in a way that is beneficial.

 

[joelippard]

Right on Kelley, I scald my sink every time I finish with it using plenty of hot water and I haven't have a single problem with it in the 13 years I have lived here.

 

[lotsosudz]

Egg shells are a must !

I've told this story before, but here it is again. When my folks moved in to their new house, it was the first time they ad experienced a garbage disposal. When the plumber was installing it, my father asked how him how to keep it sharp, The plumber said ice cubes, egg shells, and chicken bones. We always ran that combo down the drain, and that disposer ran 28 years, and that thing ran without a hitch! It finally gave up the ghost when the motor went. By the way it was a 1961 Waste King.
Just Say'in.
Hugs,
David
P.S.
When we moved into this house, the Kenmore disposer was very dull, but I started with the above mentioned diet, and it will chop anything you throw at it now.

 

[akronman]

disposal

I have the cheapest Home Depot disposal, Badger #1, around $79 when new 9 years ago, and the only time it has ever clogged is with corn husks and silk. I throw everything in it, bones and all, so my dog has no reason to get into the garbage can. At that price, if I kill it in another year, what the heck.

 

[petek]

Everything went down ours when I was growing up except for cornhusks/silk or large bones. Only a cheap ISE Badger that I put in a Calgary house had problems and that was more I think to do with the drain pipe being too horizontal as it crossed under the basement,things got backed up. Haven't had one for years now and it's really low on the "priority" list since we try not always successfully to compost

 

[volsboy1]

I put Egg shells,Paper,Tea bags,Raw bones,Cooked bones,Filters,Corn husks,Artichokes,anything really goes down mine.The

only thing I do not put down is grease but,everything else I will put down it.

I am using a 1965 Wasteking SS3000 though.

There are only a few that will grind all of that.Vikings,Old Waste kings,OLD Maytags,I just recently got a 1960s I.S.E. and

it has NO problems with anything either..The old I.S.E. are great disposer's and I can now add 1959 Busboy disposer to my list.

of 40+ disposers,that Busboy is a great disposer also...Competition is so much better for the market when it comes to quality.

Wasteking and I.S.E. used to make them SOOO much better than they do today.They have no reason to improve on them

really. If you have a Kenmore/Badger be very Careful what you put down it but, if you have a Viking,I.S.E. Excel they will chew

really anything.This is a pic of a lousy disposer that will clog very easy you can even see light from the drain output hole right next

to the left of the impeller..

 

[applianceguy47]

No Garbage disposal.

I freeze all fruit and vegetable debri,
then put it in a compost pile to make nice,
rich soil to grow MORE healthy, non-chemically treated vegies.

 

[turquoisedude]

Wow, I never had a problem with egg shells. I actually had never heard that they could be a problem until I read this - now shrimp shells have been another matter entirely. THAT was one nasty clog...

 

[tolivac]

Egg shells ,chicken bones,SMALL beef and pork bone shreddings will float down the plumbing without problems for the most part--just NO glass!shredded glass doesn't float-nor large amounts of hard paper-can coagulate later in your plumbing and clog.Glass and paper belong in the Leach,Heil,Pak-Mor,or EZ-Pak trash trucks-not your disposer.Yes,hard waste such as egg shells,chicken bones will keep "slime" out of the disposer becuase of a "soft" diet.The slime will smell,and can corrode the disposer.Of course,ice cubes and esp ice cubes mixed with orange peels can clean the disposer and make the machine and your kitchen smell nice!.Corn husks and silk-best for the trash truck--or your gardens compost shredder.