How to deal with the last little bits in the tea strainer
I’m sure I can’t be the only person with this problem. In the last few years I’ve moved from a house with a garburator in the sink to an apartment without. While I always tip my used loose tea into the compost, there are bits that don’t come out of the strainer very well, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to deal with these.
I’ve been rinsing out the strainer in the sink, and letting the stubborn little bits go down the drain, but I’ve had a couple sink clogs lately, and I don’t think this is a good practice. Any suggestions?
You have an issue with your sink that needs fixing. Sinks today should have rather large PVC pipe drainage with a big whoosh and you can even let hair go down these drains. Tea bits are no different from rinsing a dinner plate. Get the sink fixed. If you really can’t, then skip the strainer and drink down to just above the dregs, dump into the trash or outside.
I’ve always lived in old houses with old plumbing, so I avoid putting anything down the sink as best I can. Any scraps on dishes while washing are collected in the gross metal plug thing and disposed of. It’s not pretty, but it saves me some heart-ache.
For tea leaves, I bang as much as I can into the compost and use my fingers (or a spoon or a paper towel) to wipe out the rest before rinsing. Small quantities still get down there but I don’t worry about that as much. I find that the bigger the tea leaf, the easier the clean-up.
I am fascinated by the fact that I had never heard the word “garburator” before today.
I have little mesh strainers that sit over the drain of my kitchen to catch particles that were too small/stuck to go into the garbage. It prevents a lot of stuff from going down the drain. I empty it out and give it a wash once a day, to make sure it doesn’t start to smell. I picked mine up at the dollar store, but I think I’ve seen them at most kitchen shops.
Yeah, I’m renting in a pretty old house, so the drains are old, and no likelihood that they’ll be updated anytime soon.
But! I’m an idiot — I HAVE one of those little sink strainer things, I’ve just never gotten around to using it. I’ll do that, and save my sink a lot of gunk!
I’d forgotten that “garburator” seems to be a Canadian thing. Pretty sure in the US they’re called “garbage disposals.”
I’ve never seen a sink disposal..but I live in a rural province, so that’s not super surprising. I think the idea is kind of revolting, but I might like it if I had one, haha.
I don’t think the plumbing needs fixing so much as updating, which is less urgent, but much more costly. The clogs I’ve experienced haven’t been major (fixed with a good plunger), but I’d rather not tax the old plumbing more than necessary.
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