Can you put Drano in a garbage disposal?
What matters is the category of product, not the brand, and the answer depends on who you ask.
- The disposal makers say no. InSinkErator's own care guidance tells owners not to reach for bleach or drain cleaners, because they will play havoc with the disposer. Moen's support page is blunter: never put lye or chemical drain cleaners into the garbage disposal, because they cause serious corrosion of metal parts, and it adds that the damage is easily detected and warranties are void when such cleaners are used.
- Some drain cleaner makers say it depends on the product. Some drain cleaner makers say certain of their products can be used in a kitchen sink that has a disposal, and that others cannot. That is the cleaner maker speaking about its own product, so the only way to know is the label on the exact bottle in your hand.
Those two positions do not cancel out. The cleaner's label tells you what the cleaner can survive. Only the disposal's maker can tell you what the disposal can survive, and those makers say no. Putting a chemical in against that advice can also cost you the warranty on the unit.
The categories of drain cleaner, and how each behaves in a sink
- Caustic cleaners (lye-based) work by generating heat and turning grease into a soap-like material.
- Acid cleaners (sulfuric acid is the common one) work by chemical attack and heat, and are the harsher of the two.
- Foaming cleaners use a caustic or acid with a foaming agent meant to cling to the pipe wall.
- Enzyme and bacterial cleaners digest organic material slowly and are sold for maintenance, not rescue.
Read the label on the exact product in your hand, and do not assume one product's rules carry over to another.
What a chemical opener does inside the disposal
A normal sink drain is a pipe. A disposal is a metal housing with a splash guard, a grinding chamber and a drive shaft, and the grinding parts are metal. Moen's warning is about those metal parts, which is where corrosion does its damage.
When the drain is blocked, the chemical does not move through and away. It sits in the chamber and the pipe, pooled against whatever it first touches. Liquid sitting against metal for hours is the trade. It may open a narrow channel in a grease plug, the sink drains for a few days, and the plug is still there, now with a corroded unit above it.
The danger nobody warns you about: the next person
A chemical sitting in a blocked disposal is not neutralized by waiting. It is still active when you or a plumber open the trap or reach for the splash guard.
- Splashing. Running the disposal, plunging, opening the trap or feeding a cable through it can throw the liquid onto skin and eyes.
- Mixing. If a second product goes in on top of the first, an acid and a caustic product can react. Never mix drain chemicals.
- Fumes. Some combinations give off gas in a confined cabinet.
If you already poured something in, do not run the disposal, do not plunge, and wear eye protection and rubber gloves before you open anything under the sink. Tell whoever works on it what you used.
What can you pour down a garbage disposal to unclog it?
Nothing you pour will unclog it. A jam is a solid object against the spinning plate, and a clog is a plug in the pipe, and both have to be removed by hand tool. What InSinkErator suggests for upkeep is mild: lemon or lime slices and ice cubes for freshening, and a steady stream of cool water while the unit runs and for about ten seconds after, to flush the drain. For a disposal that is actually stopped, use the mechanical steps below.
What to use instead of drain cleaner
Start with the mechanical options, because they remove the clog and leave nothing behind.
1. Power off. Wall switch off, then unplug the disposal or turn the breaker off.
2. Never reach into the chamber with a hand. Use tongs or long pliers, and a flashlight.
3. Free a jam with the quarter-inch hex key in the socket at the bottom of the unit, then press the reset button.
4. Clean the trap and the elbow between the disposal and the trap, over a bucket. A paste of food and grease usually sits in that elbow.
5. Use a plunger. InSinkErator's own instructions call for one. Block the other bowl of a double sink first and keep water over the cup.
6. Use a hand auger through the trap arm if the trap is clean and the sink still holds water.
The full set of fixes, from the reset button to the dishwasher plug, is on our page about a garbage disposal that is not draining.
Does cold water or hot water keep a disposal line clear?
Use cold. InSinkErator recommends a cool or cold steady stream of water whenever the disposal is running, and says that with cool water any fat stays solid as it passes through the disposal and your drain pipes. The same guidance says not to pour grease or fat down a disposer or any drain. Hot water is not the recommendation, and it does not make grease safe to send down.
Why do chemicals fail on a kitchen line?
A kitchen drain has two common blockers, solid objects and a grease-and-food coating. A chemical does nothing for a bone or a fruit pit. Against a grease coating, it can cut a hole through the middle while the pipe wall stays coated. The real fix is to remove the plug, and to clean the pipe wall if it keeps returning.
What is the best drain cleaner for a garbage disposal?
There is no best one to recommend, because the disposal makers' guidance is to avoid them. If a sink with a disposal is stopped, a plunger, a clean trap and an auger do the job. If you decide to use a product anyway, read its label for disposals, follow it to the letter, never mix products, and do not run the disposal after pouring unless the label says to.
Are enzyme cleaners better for a disposal?
Enzyme cleaners belong to a different category. They are sold as maintenance treatments to help prevent build-up of fats, oils and organic matter, and they work over days, not minutes. They are not made to clear a stopped drain. Poured into a full sink, they just sit in the standing water. Read the label for the dosing and whether the product is intended for use in a disposal.
What can ruin a garbage disposal?
Bleach and drain cleaners, according to InSinkErator. Fats, oils and grease, which InSinkErator says collect inside plumbing pipes and cause many plumbing problems. And a jam that is left alone, since a unit that hums and does not spin has a stuck object in it. Switch it off and free the jam with the power off.
When should I stop and call a plumber?
Call if any of these are true:
- The sink is full of standing water and the disposal will not clear it.
- You already poured a chemical opener in and nothing changed.
- The disposal hums and the hex key will not free it.
- The dishwasher backs up into the sink.
- Another fixture gurgles or backs up when you run this one.
- The clog keeps returning within a few weeks.
- Sewage or dark water comes up anywhere in the house. Stop using water and call.
Our clogged sink page explains how a kitchen sink fails, clogged drain repair covers a drain that keeps clogging, and hydro jetting is how a coated pipe wall gets cleaned. The drain cleaning page lists the rest of what we clear.
What it costs
Clearing a single branch line, one fixture and not a main line clog, is covered by our $59 drain cleaning special. Past that, what moves the price is which fixture is involved, whether there is a cleanout or other way in, whether the line needs a cable or jetting, and whether the trouble sits in the branch or the main. We diagnose first, then hand you a flat price in writing that you approve before anything starts. It is a flat rate and not an hourly meter, and on-site estimates are free.
Can you use a plunger on a garbage disposal?
Yes. InSinkErator's instructions call for one: block the other bowl of a double sink, fill the sink with a few inches of water, press down gently and pull up sharply several times. Do not run the disposal afterward to test it until the water drops.
Will a drain cleaner dissolve a bone or a fruit pit stuck in the disposal?
No. A solid object has to be removed by hand tools with the power off, using tongs and never a bare hand.
Should I use hot or cold water in a garbage disposal?
Cold. InSinkErator recommends a cool or cold steady stream while the unit runs, so any fat stays solid as it passes through the disposal and the pipes. Keep grease out of the sink altogether.
Where we work
American Rooter & Drain was established in Caldwell, Idaho in 1945 and has worked the greater Treasure Valley since 1945. We snake drains in Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, Kuna, Eagle, Star, Middleton, Garden City, Emmett and the rest of the valley, plus Ontario, Nyssa and Vale in Oregon. See what we do in Boise, Nampa, Caldwell and Meridian. Call (208) 366-5771, days, nights, weekends and holidays.
