I have a garbage disposal that had a shot glass fall in. It got ground up. The disposal got jammed; I unjammed it and now it makes a glass grinding noise because of the shards inside.
How do I clear the glass?
What do I need to do to fix this?
Tell me more
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The easy way: remove the large shards with tongs. If you're having a hard time, cut up an old kitchen sponge, make sure it's soft (moist) and put it in the tongs as a bait for all the glass shards. They'll stick in the sponge just like they would your hand. Then, just hope that the small pieces will go down the drain with time. The hard way: unhook the disposal (turn off the power first), take it outside, turn it upside down, and really work on it with a garden hose. Wear gloves and verify by operating it via the screw on the base to make sure you got everything before you take it back in. Don't do this anywhere someone would go barefoot. |
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I'm sure all of these may offer some relief but in my experience the best way to fix the issue it to locate the hex key at the bottom of the disposal. Stick an Allen wrench in it and turn it till the glass clears. The Allen wrench may only turn one way, it depends on where the teeth are but just work it back ad forth to grind the glass. I've tried this'd this and my disposal works better than ever. Best part is it only took a few minutes to clear up the issue. Hope this helps! |
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Get an old rag, a rubber band and a knife. Put the rag over the knife and secure it with the rubber band. Next stick it down your sink and really move around whatever is in there. Afterwards I just used the hose on my vacuum to suck out the glass shards. Then my garbage disposal worked again. |
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I agree to use tongs (or large needle-nose pliers) to get the big glass shards. Then I would use a Shop Vac for the smaller bits. Next, I would put a wooden broom handle down the disposal and work the blades back and forth a few times to shake loose any bits of glass that might be wedged. Shop Vac again. Anything that is left by that point would be like grains of sand, and would probably wash through the disposal. Fill a pot or pitcher with water and dump it directly into the disposal. Repeat a few times. (Don't turn on the disposal during this. The idea is to get the glass out of there so the mechanism doesn't dull excessively while eating glass.) Finally, run the disposal for a minute or two with a steady stream of water. Any tiny/stubborn bits that you missed should be ground to dust. |
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I've used a warmed, peeled potato with good effect to pick up glass. Also if you can get a wet/dry shop vac in there you can attempt to use that to bring the pieces out. |
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The tong approach is good, and it is safe. Don't try with your hands. Ball up some duct tape with sticky side out and dob it around the bottom of the disposer. The smaller pieces will work themselves out with time. Putting some bread or other porous sticky organic material in there and running it will help gather the shards and pass them. Go easy on the water, so the bread will catch the glass before it dissolves too much. |
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