You probably can guess why your kitchen sink drain seems to be clogged or slow all the time. If you cook, you know that it’s inevitable that fats, grease, oils and bits of food combined with the scum of dishwashing liquid get down the drain, and clog the pipes. This happens even if you’re one of the people who try hard to keep these items from going into the sink. If you have a garbage disposal, scraps that it fails to grind up can also cause clogs. However, the effort to keep your kitchen drains clear is worth it.
How to Protect Your Kitchen Drain
There are ways to protect your drain from clogs caused by oils, grease and fats. After cooking, you can recycle grease by pouring it into a jar through a coffee filter. This not only spares your drain but allows you to use your oil again. If the oil has been reused and you feel it’s too depleted to use again, pour it into another container you plan to toss out anyway, and throw it away. There may also be places where you can take your old oil to be recycled into diesel fuel or something else.
Don’t Use the Garbage Disposal for Everything
Your garbage disposal is useful, but it shouldn’t be used to dispose of every type of food. Starchy foods such as potatoes congeal when mixed with the water in your garbage disposal. Eventually, they get stuck in your drain pipes. Coffee grounds are also culprits when it comes to clogged kitchen drains. The strings from celery stalks can also strangle the blades of your disposal unit. Toss these, coffee grounds and the scraps from starchy foods into the garbage can or your compost pile.
Dishwashing Detergent
Some dish-cleaning products are true soaps made from fats. These are especially problematic if you have hard water. They mix with the minerals and form a scum that’s devilishly tough to clear out of pipes. Choose dishwashing detergents (not traditional soap bars) formulated to rinse cleanly and reduce residue, and if the clog is too tough, call in the plumber.
Things That Fall Down the Kitchen Sink
Because the kitchen sink is used so often in a busy household, many non-food objects fall down its drain. These range from wedding rings to little toys. These items often get stuck in the trap, which means you might have to call in a plumber again.
If you prepare meals every day, your kitchen sink drain probably gets a beating. If there’s ever a clog that you just can’t clear and you need drain cleaning, call our plumbers at Alabama Home Pros of Montgomery, Alabama.