How To Clean Your Kitchen Sink & Disposal

A kitchen sink is an essential fragment of the home and necessary for everyday living. All homeowners have one and rely heavily on it for daily tasks, washing dishes and preparing food.

Why You Should Clean Your Kitchen Sink & Disposal

Your kitchen sink is one spot where odors, germs and food scraps are sure to congregate. While garbage disposals are normally self-cleaning, they do need some tender loving care from time to time. Just because you can’t see the grime, that doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Bottom line, doing a deep clean of your kitchen sink and disposal is important for the health and safety of your family and home. There are tutorials and DIY guides for cleaning these items because they’re used daily. Taking care of them is necessary to ensure they’re free of germs, debris and functioning properly at all times.

How to Clean Kitchen Sink & Disposal

Running water down your kitchen sink a few times a day washes away particles that are sitting in your sink, but it doesn’t clear it of germs and bacteria. You need to sanitize your kitchen sink to rid it of any harmful grime.

Kitchen Sink

The materials and necessary steps to complete a deep clean of your kitchen sink are:

Materials Needed

• Liquid dishwashing soap
• Distilled white vinegar
• Baking soda

Tools

• Old toothbrush
• Soft sponge

Step 1:

Thoroughly wipe down and rinse out your sink. If you have a stainless steel sink, you should use a mild soap and nylon sponge, or soft rag. Be aware that ammonia, bleach or abrasive cleaners can ruin the finish. Salt and acid in food can potentially damage the finish, so it’s important rinse and wipe down your sink on a regular basis.

Step 2: 

Grab your baking soda and scatter it over the surface of your sink. Work it into a paste and rinse thoroughly.

Step 3: 

Soak paper towels in white vinegar and then line the sink with the saturated towels. Let the towels sit for about 20 minutes. Clear and dispose of the paper towels.

Step 4:

Rinse the sink with warm soapy water.

Step 5:

Wipe the faucet and handles with a mild soapy solution. Use the toothbrush to clean the hard-to-reach areas. If you see any spots lingering, use a cloth soaked in white vinegar to remove them.

Once you’re finished cleaning, do one last deep rinse and dry with a soft rag. Your sink should now be shiny and squeaky clean!

Disposal

Now let’s take a look at how to best clean your garbage disposal. The most important part of this process is your safety. Never take any action that’ll compromise your well-being while cleaning your garbage disposal.

Materials Needed

• Distilled white vinegar
• Baking soda
• Boiling water
• Ice
• Sea salt
• Lemon (or lime)

Step 1:

First, sprinkle a 1/2 cup of baking soda down the disposal. Add 1 cup of white vinegar and allow the mixture to fizz and make a bit of noise. Let the mixture sit and work for a few minutes. Then, boil a kettle of hot water. Pour the boiling water down the drain.

Step 2:

Fill the drain with two cups of ice. Pour one cup of salt over the ice cubes (rock salt is great if you have it). Run some cold water. Turn on the garbage disposal until the ice is gone.

The mixture of ice and salt will help loosen the grime and debris from the grinding elements.

Step 3: 

Let’s finish it of. Cut a lemon (or lime) in half. Turn the water on and run the garbage disposal. Add the fruit halves to the disposal one at a time.

That’s it, you’re done! The fruit will clean and deodorize your drain!