An unfortunate and occasional occurrence that homeowners face is glass cups and dishware breaking in the sink. An even more unfortunate occurrence is when shards of that broken glass ends up in your garbage disposal. Here are Five Star Plumbing’s recommended steps for how to remove broken glass from the garbage disposal.

How To Remove Broken Glass From The Garbage Disposal

Turn Off The Power 

The first step in removing glass from your garbage disposal is to make sure that you are being safe. Turn off the power on your disposal, as well as turning off the power at the breaker panel. This may sound unnecessary, but accidents can and will happen if you aren’t as careful as possible. 

Pliers

We advise against using your hands to pull out the glass shards. What we do advise is using a pair of pliers, preferably needle nose pliers, to pull out as many shards as you can. Most likely, the bigger shards will be easiest to remove.

Vacuum 

Now, it’s time to suck it up. Use a shop vac to remove the smaller, harder to see shards from your disposal. We recommend using the long-head attachment so that it can fit inside your drain. 

Blades

Lastly, turn the blades of your disposal. This will enable you to remove any and all glass pieces that were hidden or blocked by the blades. Make sure that you are not using your hands to turn the blades. Use a device such as a stick or a hex key to safely turn the blades.

About Five Star Plumbing

As local plumbers, our service area includes Baltimore County and Harford County, including but not limited to Bel Air, Abingdon, Fallston, Towson, Baltimore, Parkville, Lutherville, and Timonium. We offer 2 hour appointment windows so you don’t have to wait all day – no matter where in the area that you are located. We offer many different services, including well pump services, water treatment, plumbing repair and installation, outdoor plumbing services, drain cleaning, and water heater services.