You Can Do It

doit

Many years ago, when I was a new homeowner, I was shucking corn for a backyard barbecue. I looked at that shiny garbage disposal opening in the sink and thought, “I’ll just throw the husks and silk down the disposal.” Bad idea. Within a few seconds the garbage disposal lurched to a halt and emitted that dull motor sound. So what to do? I called a plumber who detangled the silk and husks from the disposal blades and got it working. A couple years later I was husking corn again and decided to give it another whirl. Dumb. Idea. Once again, the disposal ground to a halt and I made another call to the plumber who fixed it. The first time I can blame on naivete. The second time there was no excuse. When the disposal got jammed again (no, I didn’t throw husks down) I decided to see if I could unjam it myself. Yes, yes I can! It’s actually quite simple, doesn’t require anything more than an Allen wrench, and takes less than 10 minutes. Here’s what I do and this should work for most newish garbage disposals. 1. Disconnect the disposal | Unplug the disposal from the outlet it is plugged into. If there is no plug, turn the switch that controls the disposal to OFF and turn off the disposal’s circuit breaker from your home’s electric panel. 2. Check and remove any objects | You can do this a few ways. One way is to use a flashlight and look inside the sink opening for anything that might be stuck. I take the end of a wooden spoon and poke around to see if I find something. Next, I use a gloved hand and fish around. On more than one occasion a citrus rind has been the culprit. If you don’t want to use your hand a pair of needle-nosed pliers will do the trick. 3. Loosen the jam | Look for the small round opening in the center on the underside of your disposal. Insert the short end of the Allen wrench that came with your disposal, or any ¼” Allen (hex) wrench, into that hole.

Using some elbow grease, move the long end of the Allen wrench back and forth until the wrench moves freely in both directions. If you have trouble, gently tap the long end of the wrench with a rubber mallet to get it going. 4. Plug the disposal back in | Plug the electric cord into the outlet or switch the circuit breaker back to ON. 5. Reset the disposal | Some disposals have a small, red reset button on the bottom of the unit. Press the button to reset the unit’s internal circuit breaker. 6. Test the disposal | Run cold water into the sink, then turn on the disposal. Hopefully you hear the disposal working and ready to go. If you only hear a hum, repeat the previous steps. Voila! Disposal fixed and you saved yourself a lot of money. Moral of the story. Don’t put corn husks into the disposal! Here are some other foods that aren’t meant for the garbage disposal. These include things that are highly absorbent, fibrous, or hard. • Animal bones • Coffee grounds • Egg shells • Fibrous or stringy fruits and

vegetable (corn husks and silk!) • Grease, oil, and fat • Non-food materials • Nuts and shells • Onion layers • Pasta, rice, and bread • Pits and seeds • Potato peels

Unclog a toilet - without a plunger

When your toilet is clogged, and you don’t have a plunger, it’s time to get creative. Your best bet is to fill a pan with hot water. Heat it up on the stove or use the tap, but don’t let the water get to boiling point. Pour it in the toilet bowl and let it sit for a few minutes to see if it loosens the clog. You’ll know if your efforts were successful if you see the water start to drain. Then, give your toilet a flush or two. In many cases, the hot water is enough to break up whatever is causing the backup.

Dish Duty If you need to kick the unclogging process up a notch, borrow some dish soap from the kitchen and squeeze a generous amount, about a 1/4 cup should do, into the toilet bowl. Let the soap sit for 5 to 10 minutes so it has time to move down the drain and reach the clog. Then, add hot water (again, not boiling water) to the bowl and give it some time to sit. In most cases, the dish soap will act as a lubricant and grease the clog in the toilet drain to get everything moving again.

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By Jennifer Goldsmith Cerra, Director, Communications Herbein + Company, Inc.