# Is it good to put egg shells into the garbarge disposal?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 30, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260 "2009-03-30T04:52:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/21 "2009-03-31T20:49:32Z")
> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> Does anybody have a list of things to NOT put in a disposal (without the obvious silverware) as well as things to run through to clean them and get rid of odors? (I have always heard to use ice cubes)
I regularly dump in a few cupfuls of ice and send it down with some water to get the disposal clean. Since we eat a lot of pranges at my house, and my wife drins a lot of iced tea with lemon, I also find that lemon and orange rinds do a great job at deodorizing.
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### Author:  [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/22 "2009-03-31T21:45:34Z")
> [@dracoi](#):
>
> As a general rule, avoid anything hard and/or fibrous. I’ve been told that anything you can chew is safe. Metal, bone, wood and hard stems (like a pumpkin’s) are definitely out. Some types of peels or rinds seem to cause problems in some systems more than others, maybe depending on horsepower.
>
> This goes for all sinks and not just garbage disposals, but never put liquid fats down the drain, like the drippings from a roast or melted butter. Not only does it stand a good chance of solidifying in the trap, but some cities have so much problem cleaning it out of the sewers that they’ve banned garbage disposals altogether.
>
> I’ve never had any problems with odors and just make sure to run it a little longer than needed and to run hot water for a little while after I finish. Ice cubes and lemon peel are supposed to be a good natural/cheap way to clean and deodorize.
Just had to share - I have seen the effects of bacon grease\* on sewer lines when I was along with a city engineer checking a sewerage system. There was a small access area under a manhole cover that was just packed with grease, and the parallel rain and grey water channels cutting rivers through the grease. The obvious source was the sewage line from a local house as it looked like a grease fountain, with a trickle of water coming out through a small channel along the bottom of the clogged up pipe. This was a in Massachusetts during winter, the grease was pretty much solid, and there was a grease stalactite as wide as the house outlet pipe from the pipe to the pool of grease in the manhole. I’d hate to see how slow water drained from any point in the house as their main outlet was probabaly 90% clogged at the end. The engineer said said on some older systems (such as the one we were checking, unfortunately) where the only separation between the two systems was the water level in two parallel channels in a larger pipe, it will cause the grey water to ‘jump up’ into the storm water channel.
\*or so the engineer assumed - he said something along the lines of ‘and this is what you get when you pour your bacon grease down the drain every day’ followed by a few curses and assorted bitching
ETA: I only just now considered how much solid waste was probably stuck in the pipe back toward the house… the channel appeared too small for a decent sized turd to make it through… nasty.
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### Author:  [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/23 "2009-03-31T21:50:47Z")
AFAIR if you grind them up, you can use them to keep snails away from your plants; they don’t like going over them.
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### Author:  [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/24 "2009-03-31T22:05:28Z")
I’ll bet I’m not the only one who learned the hard way not to put chicken _skin_ in the garbage disposal.
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### Author:  [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/25 "2009-03-31T22:06:08Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#):
>
> No list but experience that banana peels do not go down well.
Nor will artichoke leaves. I had a housemate years ago who crammed several artichokes’ worth of leaves down the disposal and turned it on. Took me several days to unclog, she might as well have put 20 feet of hemp rope down there.
And be careful with the lemons - running a half down with plenty of running water is one thing, glugging a whole bunch of 'em down will clog the drain (but it smells fine as you’re snaking it out).
I don’t compost but I can put an awful lot of stuff in my yard waste bin for the city to pick up - pretty much any kind of food waste other than meat. Since I started doing that I’ve barely had to use my disposal at all.
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### Author:  [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/26 "2009-04-01T01:33:15Z")
> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> Does anybody have a list of things to NOT put in a disposal (without the obvious silverware) as well as things to run through to clean them and get rid of odors? (I have always heard to use ice cubes)
I can add to the list. If you kill and clean a rattlesnake, don’t put the guts down the disposal.
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### Author:  [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/27 "2009-04-01T01:39:00Z")
> [@guizot](#):
>
> What I didn’t know–and what many people seem to think–is that you can’t compost them.
No-one here seems to agree with you on this. Where did you get this impression from? IME they compost just fine.
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/28 "2009-04-01T03:11:59Z")
This probably goes w/o saying, but potato or carrot peals == BAD BAD BAD. Do not put these down your disposal, ever. You’re plumber will tell you all about it when your drains all plug and the cleanout has to be routed out.
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/29 "2009-04-01T15:20:24Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#):
>
> I can add to the list. If you kill and clean a rattlesnake, don’t put the guts down the disposal.
However, a whole live snake will process without complaint (on the part of the disposal; I suspect the snake didn’t like it much).
Well, it wasn’t a large snake, nor a rattler, just a small snake about the thickness of an electrical cord.
And no, I’m not kidding :(. I found the snake in our basement when I was about 11. Called the nearest vaguely adult-like thing in the house - my 15 year old brother - to deal with it. Made the mistake of asking him later what he did with it. He told me. Other experiences lead me to believe what he said.
Yeah, he’s a psychopath. No, we don’t maintain contact with him.
More in line with the OP: We put eggshells down, though the volume is low - we use a dozen eggs maybe every couple of months. Ditto citrus rinds. Never had any problem with potato peels or carrot peels. My mother once tried banana skins and that didn’t work out too well.
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### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/30 "2009-04-01T15:45:36Z")
Remember that rattle snake venom stays toxic in an old fang, so don’t futs with the fang even if it is years old.
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### Author:  [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/31 "2009-04-01T15:54:48Z")
When I worked in the cafeteria in college, we had the mother of all disposals. If a plastic plate or glass “accidentally” went down it, it would make a hellacious sound and promptly chew it to bits. Silverware was the only thing it couldn’t take.
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/32 "2009-04-01T16:52:11Z")
> [@KRM](#):
>
> When I worked in the cafeteria in college, we had the mother of all disposals. If a plastic plate or glass “accidentally” went down it, it would make a hellacious sound and promptly chew it to bits. Silverware was the only thing it couldn’t take.
I’m reminded of a [Bill Bryson column](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/brysons-america-1185962.html) from shortly after he moved back to the US, in which he touched on things to do when one’s wife is out. Near the top, obviously, was experimenting with the garbage disposal. (These things aren’t very common in the UK, although I remember my gran did have one.)
> [@](#):
>
> If you had asked me, 18 months ago, what the prospects were that shortly my chief hobby would be placing assorted objects down a hole in the kitchen sink, I believe I would have laughed in your face, but in fact it is so. I have never had a garbage disposal before, so I have been learning its tolerances through a process of trial and error. Chopsticks give perhaps the liveliest response (this is not recommended, of course, but there comes a time with every piece of machinery when you just have to see what it can do), but cantaloupe rinds make the richest, throatiest sound and result in less “down time”. Coffee grounds in quantity are the most likely to provide a satisfying “Vesuvius effect”, though it is best not to attempt this difficult feat until your wife has gone out for the day, and to have a mop and stepladder standing by.
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### Author:  [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/33 "2009-04-02T05:03:55Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#):
>
> Remember that rattle snake venom stays toxic in an old fang, so don’t futs with the fang even if it is years old.
Not a problem. The head remained out in the country by the side of the road, wondering how the day went so wrong.
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### Author:  [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2009, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/34 "2009-04-02T11:16:15Z")
I remember a show on TV once where the manufacturer said that they design their disposal unit to chew up blocks of wood. So, I pretty much put anything softer than a block of wood down mine. Never had a problem with it or the drains.
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### Author:  [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/35 "2009-04-02T13:44:05Z")
> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> Does anybody have a list of things to NOT put in a disposal (without the obvious silverware) as well as things to run through to clean them and get rid of odors? (I have always heard to use ice cubes)
They actually make little disposal-smell-nice jobbies; you can buy them at Bed Bath & Beyond and probably other stores as well. They come in orange or lemon scents and look sorta like lemon drops or small hard candies. You toss one in, grind it up, and you’ve got a pleasant smelling sink. They were pretty cheap, but still, you’re probably better off tossing down the occasional actual orange or lemon peel rather than buying little scented doodads for that specific purpose.
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### Author:  [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2009, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/36 "2009-04-03T04:53:19Z")
> [@Uzi](#):
>
> I remember a show on TV once where the manufacturer said that they design their disposal unit to chew up blocks of wood. So, I pretty much put anything softer than a block of wood down mine. Never had a problem with it or the drains.
**This Old House**?
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### Author:  [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/37 "2009-04-03T05:27:24Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#):
>
> **This Old House**?
Most likely.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2009, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/38 "2009-04-03T06:48:33Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#):
>
> Not a problem. The head remained out in the country by the side of the road, wondering how the day went so wrong.
Yeah, I’ve had days almost that bad.
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### Author:  [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/39 "2009-04-04T06:33:10Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> Yeah, I’ve had days almost that bad.
😃
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-put-egg-shells-into-the-garbarge-disposal/491260/40 "2009-04-04T17:01:33Z")
Ok, my question (and it’s not meant to be snarky–I am genuinely curious) is why are all you folks putting all these things down your disposal instead of in a trash can? (or compost pile)
I only run my disposal when I’m washing dishes and some small or medium chunks of food wind up going down the drain. Otherwise, I put everything in the trashcan.
Egg shells? Trashcan.
Vegetable and fruit peelings? Trashcan.
meat/fat trimmings? Trashcan.
I guess some things can start to smell if left in a trashcan too long, but I generally haven’t found that to be a problem, and certainly not with eggshells. It seems really odd to me to put something like eggshells down the sink all the time instead of just tossing them in the trash.
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