It pays to have a clean garbage disposal
Monday, October 22, 2007 by Dave Winer.
Another nugget I thought would be good to share. 
I came home from my trip to NY and there was a pretty bad stink in the kitchen.
It didn't take long to zero in on the source -- the garbage disposal.
I tried pouring all kinds of cleaning stuff down the drain, to no avail, the smell didn't go away.
Then I did a search on the Internet, found a variety of suggestions, and felt pretty sure that I'd have to call a plumber because they all seemed to assume skills and/or tools I didn't have. Instead I tried a very simple idea and amazingly it worked.
1. Put a drain stopper in the disposal so no water can flow out through the bottom
2. Fill the sink with hot water mixed with soap and chlorine bleach. The hotter the water the better.
3. With the water running put one hand on the stopper and the other on the switch, as you pull out the stopper, turn on the switch. (Be sure to do it in that order, to keep your hand from getting chopped up!)
4. Let all the water run out of the sink and leave the water running as long as there's suds.
5. Repeat two or three times. Wait a day or two. With any luck the smell will be gone.
The reason this works is that junk gets stuck on the walls of the drain, and since it's garbage, it rots and stinks. By immersing it in soapy water, the junk gets dislodged and goes down the drain and out of your life.
