While a garbage disposal generally does a great job at cleaning itself by breaking down food particles and sending them down the drain, this appliance can get filled up by certain items such as bones, egg shells, and grease. Probably you didn’t put those things intentionally into the disposal, but they got in anyway. Keep your garbage disposal clean to maintain its good performance. Here is how to do it:

• Start by turning the garbage disposal off. If there is no “Power” button, you can just unplug the cord or turn off the disposal breaker in the service panel.
• Scrub under the baffle using an abrasive sponge; apply dish soap to the sponge beforehand if needs be. Make sure you scrub into every fold and crease in the baffle. Rinse the sponge and repeat the process until you manage to remove every bit of gunk.
• Use the same sponge and dish soap to clean the grinding chamber or impellers. Swipe around the top of the grinding chamber, rinse the sponge, and repeat until the sponge picks up no more gunk.

Up until this point, you can reconnect the power, rinse the disposal with warm water, and consider a job well done. For more thorough cleaning, you may want to rinse it by using a mixture of hot water, baking soda, and vinegar in 2:1:1 ratio. Pour them into the sink (under which is the garbage disposal), but make sure that the sink stopper is put in place. Let the mixture sit for about 15 seconds to react, remove the stopper, and run the garbage disposal.