How To Clean Your Garbage Disposal And Actually Make It Smell Good

It may be true that all you need to clean your garbage disposal is a tray of ice cubes, but this kitchen hack has little to no effect on its actual smell. To replace the odor of rotting foodstuffs, you need something a bit more aromatic, like vanilla. As potent as it is lovely smelling, Sofia Martinez, CEO of Sparkly Maid Austin, absolutely swears by it.

"The ice creates a scrubbing action as it travels around, removing the particles of the food off the walls and the blades," Martinez says. "Vanilla contains compounds that neutralize odors rather than masking them." As the blades of your garbage disposal blast off chunks of ice, leftover food falls away down the drain, eliminating the source of any stench. However, there will still be some residue and remaining stink to take care of. That's where the vanilloid compounds in vanilla come in, neutralizing rather than covering up bad smells, and replacing them with something sweet!

Vanilla pods, in particular, are a great food scrap to make kitchens smell great. After you've used up the seeds, keep the pods in an airtight container for whenever you may need to spruce up your garbage disposal. While pods are a great option if you have some left over, not everyone regularly uses vanilla beans. Martinez assures us that vanilla extract and other forms of concentrated vanilla are not only acceptable, but possibly even better.

Whatever method you choose to clean your garbage disposal, a non-negotiable is that you must keep cold water running. Not only does this help remove all the clinging food breaking off the disposal's blades, but it's the best way to keep its mechanisms from overheating. For ice, be sure to use cold water to prevent the cubes from prematurely melting before they can accomplish their task.

"To get the best results, add 2-3 ice cubes first, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and run cold water with it operating for 15-20 seconds," Sofia Martinez says. "The cold water hardens the grease so that it gets chopped and rinsed away." This is especially important if you or a guest have made the mistake of pouring fat down the drain, whether it be leftover olive oil or bacon grease. While you may be able to clean up liquid bacon grease in a flash with baking soda, sticking your hand down the sink's drain is unsafe and ineffective for cleaning your disposal's blades.

If you truly want to freshen your garbage disposal using Martinez's trick, try throwing in some cut up lemon before adding the vanilla. Running the garbage disposal with ice and lemon is a great way to deodorize the blades, and vanilla's scent is strong enough that it will still cut through the fruity aromas to leave your disposal smelling like a bakery hard at work.