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Carving A Pumpkin? Is It OK To Put Guts Down The Drain?

Carving A Pumpkin? Is It OK To Put Guts Down The Drain?

Here Are Some Carving Tips

Most Dad’s and many Moms are getting ready to carve pumpkins for their kids or make pumpkin pie or muffins. Great idea! Here are some creative tips on carving pumpkins. But we’re here to help prevent a clogged drain or broken disposal. Whatever you do… DO NOT dump pumpkin pulp and/or seeds in the toilet, down the drain or run them through your garbage disposal!

Avoid Dumping Down the Drain

The disposal is a convenient tool when used properly, but it is not designed to fight pumpkin pulp. The pulp of a pumpkin is slimy and stringy when you first take it out of the pumpkin and then it sticks to everything it touches. So imagine your kitchen sink drain for a minute. Imagine dumping your beautifully carved pumpkin’s guts right down the drain of your kitchen sink. Then, imagine turning the disposal on to grind up the pulp.

Avoid the Dreaded Pumpkin Gut Clog

Can you imagine what happens next? The pulp is stringy, slimy and wet to start, and it sticks to everything it touches from the sink to the blade of the disposal to the drain. What happens next is what most people do not consider. When pumpkin guts harden they turn into a sticky, resin-like substance that can completely clog your drain, gum up the blade of your disposal and completely mess up the health of a septic system.

At Cooke’s Plumbing and Septic in Stuart, we want to help you avoid this Halloween horror and offer some tips for keeping your drains and septic system safe this holiday season.

1) Scoop any pulp ( guts ) or seeds into a bowl or onto a newspaper and then throw it in the trash if you intend to carve or bake pumpkins, squashes or gourds.
2) Separate the seeds from the pulp and roast them in the oven, then sprinkle with a little sea salt. They make a lovely snack.
3) Pulp and seeds are a treat for chickens, goats and pigs.
4) Compost
5) Grow your own pumpkins! Pick out the biggest seeds, rinse them well and lay them out to dry on a paper towel. Store them in an envelope or plant them right away. Use tips 1-4 for the remain of what you don’t save for planting.

If you are reading this after the pumpkin pulp slipped down the drain and you have a clog… you can call us any time. We can help you in and around the following locations 24/7!

Vero Beach/Ft. Pierce: 772-465-8300
Port St. Lucie: 772-878-7444
Stuart: 772-287-0651
Toll-Free: 1-877-287-0651

To all our friends on the Treasure Coast – Carve safely and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN from our family at Cooke’s Plumbing and Septic to yours!

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