A garbage disposal is a very convenient and effective appliance to have in your kitchen. It makes clean up after meals a breeze, keeps your house smelling fresh and clean and helps reduce the amount of garbage you need to dispose of. This handy kitchen appliance also increases the value of your home. Prospective house buyers look for convenience and updated, well-maintained appliances when looking for a new home to buy.

Because your garbage disposal is so valuable, it is very important to keep it in good working condition.

Here are seven helpful tips for maintaining your garbage disposal:

1. Use your disposal on a regular basis to help prevent build-up of rust, corrosion and clogs. Any time you use your sink to prepare food or wash dishes you should run your disposal to prevent food particles from building up in the drain.

2. Always run cold water while using your garbage disposal. You should run the water at least 20-30 seconds before and after grinding as well. Hot water can cause fats and grease to solidify which can cause clogging. A steady steam of cold water will help ensure that all the particles get into the disposal and are fully ground up and disposed of.

3. Only use your disposal for non-toxic liquids and soft food items.

4. Do not pour any hazardous materials down your garbage disposal such as chemicals, solvents, pesticides or cleansers. Also, avoid putting in any hard food items such as seeds and fruit stones, bones, popcorn kernels and egg shells. Fibrous foods such as corn husks, onion skins and celery stalks should also not be put into the disposal because they have a tendency of wrapping around the blades of the garbage disposal.

5. Before running the disposal, make sure there are no non-food items in the sink. Some of the most common causes of a clogged up garbage disposal include silverware, plastic lids and bottle caps.

6. To keep the blades on your garbage disposal clean and sharp, periodically fill it up with ice cubes and either rock salt or vinegar and run the disposal. This will help prevent rust and sludge build-up on the blades.

7. Keep your disposal and kitchen smelling fresh and clean by periodically pouring vinegar or baking soda down it. Grinding up orange or lemon peel is also very effective and smells great too.

Keeping your garbage disposal well-maintained is not difficult or time-consuming. It is well worth the few minutes it takes given how convenient and valuable this kitchen appliance is. Just follow our simple maintenance tips to keep your garbage disposal in good working order, and it will serve you well for years and years to come.

By ErikBraunitzer and courtesy of DouglasEllimanRealEstate Company, agents for NewYorkCityRentals. Erik Braunitzer is a member of the creative writing and web strategy department off-site for PDE.