How To Unclog A Clogged Garbage Disposal

I know my husband said no celery but I ran some through and now the garbage disposal is clogged what do I do? Need to get this fixed asap.

No problem, make sure it is turned off and reach in and clean out all the you can. Don't do this if you put in a commercail clog cleaner though.

Okay I did that but I can't quite reach all of it. Should I find something to shove it down through the disposal?

NO, get some needlenose pliers and reach in through the disposal and try to get it out that way and see if that works.

Okay I got it all I think and water runs fine through it but the disposal won't work now. I think I may have broke it.

Look at the side of your garbage disposal unit and see if there is a button that looks popped out. If it started to clog and you didn't get it shut off in time it triggers this.

If you find it push it in and try it.

Sally thank you so much, it works fine now.

You don't know how much I appreciate you helping me to unclog the darn old disposal.

Had a lot of leftover spaghetti that was cooked and way too much for the recipe so I put it in the disposal, ran water and turned on the disposal. I'm wondering if the spaghetti is caught in the pipes or something. The disposal goes on but races at breakneck speed (it appears to be empty) .. then when I turn off the disposal and turn ON the water faucet, the water backs up in the sink and stays there until I run the disposal again. Only then will the sink drain of water. Can anyone help me, short of calling a plumber for the third time this month (unrelated but expensive issues).

We did this before too... but I just added it a little to fast instead of just dumping it all in at once... as a matter of fact, my mom just did something similar to our disposal this thanksgiving with carrots. The thing would turn on but it wouldn't drain water and was leaking up under the sink from the disposal. We thought we were going to have to call someone to fix it, but my hubby decided to see if the drain was clogged. He unscrewed the pipe going from the disposal pipe to the other sink pipe, and it was packed with carrot peices.. LOL Its probably just blocked with some spaghetti, that was the problem back then too. Pasta is very easy to get packed in the drain pipe. You have to add most foods a little at a time into the disposal and run cold water while running it so it doesn't overheat.. ;)

I have the same issue with the disposal and sink combo backup...I was getting rid of old food (mostly pasta) from the fridge and now have this problem. A friend of mine suggested that I have someone assist by placing and holding a towel over the sink side drain and using a plunger over the garbage disposal side. She says it works well. Once the blockaged comes up, start water and re-dispose. I will be hurrying home to try this for myself!

Plunger worked like magic! :) I thought I would have to take the pipes apart (yuck). Thanks for the great tips!

Can someone help me???
Tonight I put meat in the garbage disposal, and it worked fine during and afterward. I noticed about 3 hours later that a tiny hole in the SIDE of the garbage disposal unit was dripping water. Then it started spewing water!! I tried turning on the disposal to let see if there was some back-up or something, because shortly after, the washing machine went on spin, and the water backed up into the kitchen sink! You guessed it...the water began to spew out the hole in the disposal. My question: Tomorrow when I get the new disposal, will there still be a plugged up pipe, and will the person installing the disposal fix that, do you think? Also, my water softener went on recycle, and water backed up in the kitchen sink, with everything spewing out the little hole. Nothing would drain!!! Please, can somebody help????? Thank you!
Diana

I suggest that you refrain from using anything that will back up into your kitchen sink, even the water softener should have a shut off. Since you already have a repair man coming I would just bring it all up with him and take it from there.

i was wondering how to unclog my garbage disposal. i got a piece of meatbone stuck i can see it but can't get it. I've tried the wrench below reset button broom handle hot water to loosen help

Can you reach it with needlenose pliers? Or dislodge it with a screwdriver?

you guys rock!!! that plunger did the trick....

My husband put a bunch of potato peelings in the garbage disposal. And now our water is backing up in both sinks. We have tried everything, from a plunger, to taking off all pipes under the sink, cleaning out the disposal and using a snake. What can we do??? Any suggestions?

new kitchen and water sprays out of drain on other side of disposal when disposal is used. could it be hooked up wrong or am I doing something wrong, now its plugged

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