We hope you had a happy Halloween season—and we also hope you didn’t have to make an emergency plumbing call to fix a broken disposal. The #1 reason for plumbing calls during Halloween season is because of pumpkin pulp jamming up garbage disposals. The stringy pulp leftovers from carving Jack O’Lanterns have a notorious ability to wrap around the working parts of a disposal and jam it.

But your garbage disposal isn’t out the dark woods yet! November and December are times when your garbage disposal will face an onslaught of food items that can cause it problems—food items that should go elsewhere! Here are some things to watch out for during this festive season at the end of the year:

• Fibrous foods: This is the category that pumpkin pulp falls under, and pumpkins are still part of the November cooking season. Also watch out for potato skins, celery, asparagus, onion skins… well, a whole slew of foods that are likely to be on your Thanksgiving table. Place them in a composting buck instead.
• Turkey bones: Any bones, actually, but turkey is the most likely culprit in November. Your disposal isn’t designed to handle tough material such as this. Think of it this way: if your teeth can’t chew it, then your garbage disposal can’t grind it.
• Unpopped popcorn kernels: Popcorn is an important part of November festivities, but make sure that you don’t dump the unpopped kernels at the bottom of bowl down the disposal! This is one of the worst things for a disposal to deal with.
• Fat, grease, oils: Plenty of cooking during November and December will leave these liquids behind, but they will turn into solids when they cool—so don’t pour them down the disposal or any or your drains.

You should enjoy a much more pleasant time in your kitchen with a healthy garbage disposal. But if you do need repairs for your disposal, call Lifeline Plumbing, Heating & Cooling. We serve West Dundee, IL with high quality plumbing.