Whether you’re whipping up an evening meal for your family or preparing side dishes for a neighbourhood barbecue, summer is a time of cooking and food prep. That also means it’s often a time when your kitchen gets used more than ever. If you want to make sure your kitchen keeps running smoothly, protecting your kitchen sink is essential.
The more food you prepare, the more likely you are to put things in your sink that don’t belong there. Even if you have a garbage disposal, you should try your best to only let water and dish detergent go down your sink’s drain. We’ve seen drain clogs from all kinds of things that shouldn’t have gone down a sink drain, from grease, cooking oil, and fat to coffee grounds, rice, and even bones!
Besides talking about what you should avoid putting into your drainage system, this article will also go over some tips and tricks for preventing drain clogs. That way, you can have a safe and clog-free summer!
Use Strainers or Drain Screens
A great way to prevent clogs in your kitchen and bathroom sinks is to use drain screens or strainers. Screens are also a good idea for shower drains, as they can clog up with hair as well. Drain screens sit on top of your drain and prevent unwanted solids and debris from entering your drain. They’re a very cost-effective option, and you can find them at most home improvement stores.
Properly Dispose of Oil and Grease
Oil and grease are two of the biggest culprits when it comes to drain clogs. They’re also two of the most common by-products of cooking and food prep. Regardless of how convenient it might be to simply pour oil and grease down kitchen sinks, it’s one of the worst things you can do.
Grease and oil can create major blockages in your drainage system. These substances harden after you pour them down your drains—and then sit in your drain. Over time a little bit of oil and grease buildup will keep growing as food particles and more oil and grease stick to the buildup as they flow down the drain. Grease clogs often start out as slow drains but can worsen over time to completely block your kitchen sink drain, or worse, your home’s sewer system!
Keep Food Waste Out of Drains
Another good way to keep your drains clear is to keep food products out of them. Even if you have a garbage disposal, you should never put food waste down the drain, whether it’s coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels, leftover rice or pasta, or eggshells. All of those and any other food waste that goes down your drains can cause problems over time.
Only Flush Toilet Paper
We’ve mostly been focusing on your kitchen sink clogs. However, toilet clogs are also a common problem. While some toilet clogs are unavoidable due to heavy use or an old toilet, you can keep most clogs from happening by only flushing toilet paper down your drain.
That means no wipes, hygiene products, or anything else. If it’s not toilet paper, throw it in the trash, not your toilet!
Try To Keep Hair Out of the Shower
Another good way to keep a steady flow of water in your shower and bathroom sink is to keep hair out of the drains. In the same way that grease and oil are the main causes of kitchen sink clogs, hair is the main cause of clogs in showers, bathtubs, and bathroom sinks.
Using drain screens and being careful to avoid letting too much hair get through your drains pay off in the long run by reducing the chances of a bathroom clog.
Avoid Using Chemical Drain Cleaners
If your pipes are currently clogged, you might be tempted to try to clear them with chemical drain cleaners. While many of these cleaners say that they’re safe and okay to use, this isn’t always true. Chemical drain cleaners have powerful and corrosive ingredients that can be dangerous and harmful if spilled or splashed, and can also damage your pipes.
Most chemical drain cleaners work by dissolving clogs with strong acids or bases eating away or corroding clogs. The problem is, if your pipes are already in bad shape, chemical cleaners can eat a hole right through them as well, causing an even bigger problem!
Use Everyday Tools To Clean Drains and Clear Clogs
If you’re having drain problems and want to tackle them yourself, rather than using chemical cleaners, try some simple tools instead:
Most people have used a plunger on an uncooperative toilet, but plungers are great for unclogging sinks as well. (We recommend using different plungers for each, though, for obvious reasons.) Home improvement stores sell small plungers made just for sinks.
You can also buy hair clog removers, which are essentially just flexible sticks with little teeth on them, at home improvement stores. These are surprisingly (and disgustingly!) effective at pulling long hair out of drains.
Have Your Pipes Professionally Cleaned
If you have an older house or if you’re noticing some of your drains are running slowly, consider having your drains professionally cleaned.
At SOS Drain Cleaning, we focus on clogged drains. We have experienced technicians who do nothing but unclog drains all day, every day, and we have specialized tools that most other plumbing companies don’t have. A lot of our customers are actually other plumbing companies that call us when they can’t get a drain unclogged!
Maybe your drains are running fine, but you’re worried about them anyway. For example, maybe you have an older house or a big tree in your front yard. We can help there too! We can perform a camera inspection with a camera designed specifically for drains. Our camera inspections allow us to check your drains and sewer pipe, and spot drain problems before they happen. If we see anything that isn’t right, we can advise you on how best to keep things flowing as they should.
For professional Calgary drain cleaning, contact us today!
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