How to De-Stink Your Kitchen Sink
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Have you ever been washing the dishes and smelled something…kind of terrible? The likely culprit: your garbage disposal. Luckily, we have a quick hack to freshen up your kitchen sink. All you’ll need are three products you likely already have laying around the house: an ice tray, lemons, and white vinegar. Seriously, that’s it! You’ll probably find that how to make a garbage disposal smell better is actually pretty easy.
Often, the kitchen sink can go neglected. Sometimes you just don’t realize it’s in need of a deep clean until it’s already starting to smell. Of course, you can always use the help of all-purpose cleaning supplies. And products like Bar Keepers Friend and eco-friendly cleaning supplies do a great job at keeping the outside of the sink sparkling, too. But the drain and the garbage disposal is where the real mess lays. However, if you keep a tray of our sink bombs in the freezer, you can pull them out once a week to keep your garbage disposal clean and fresh in a pinch. It’s the ultimate quick clean sink hack. Check out our video above for a visual, and then keep these step-by-step instructions handy for more details.
Step 1: Grab an Empty Ice Tray and Lemons
Grab an empty ice tray. Then, with a knife or a peeler (watch your fingers!), peel the lemon skin and place one into each slot of the ice tray. Make sure that the peels aren’t too thin or too thick—we want them to have enough zest inside to smell lemony-fresh without any of the actual lemon flesh getting involved.
Step 2: Fill With White Vinegar and Freeze
Then, fill each slot with white distilled vinegar. Place the ice tray in the freezer for at least two hours. Ideally, the ice tray should be covered to avoid picking up freezer scents, but it’s not necessary. If you do use an open container, make sure that it stays in a part of the freezer where, if a little vinegar accidentally spills over, it won’t matter. So make sure to keep it outside of any ice makers or foods that you’ll be using for drinks or meals.
Step 3: Place the Cubes in the Drain
After a couple of hours, take the ice tray out of the freezer and plop a few cubes into the garbage disposal drain. Don’t put your hand into the drain itself! Turn on the hot water and garbage disposal for about 10 seconds, or long enough that you can hear the ice cubes crack and blend fully, until mascerated.
Step 4: Your Garbage Disposal Is Clean!
Voilà ! You have yourself a fresh-smelling sink. Turns out how to make a garbage disposal smell better wasn’t that hard, right? Now you can get your kitchen drawers in order, take some time to reorganize the kitchen cabinets, or even get prepared for spring cleaning. Whatever you choose to tackle, now you can do it knowing your garbage disposal is smelling good.
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Love this project? Click here to see more D&J DIYs! Happy home cleaning.
