Ways To Prevent A Blocked Drain in Your Kitchen Sink

Blocked drains in kitchen sinks is on of the more common plumbing issues you may experience in your household. If you notice strange smells coming from your kitchen sink or underneath it, or if your kitchen sink is not draining properly, or it takes a long time to do so, then your drain is most likely to be blocked. With just a little more care you can most probably prevent the drain in your kitchen sink becoming blocked, which will save you having to go to the supermarket and buy products to unblock it and having to call the reliable 4 Elements Plumbing to fix the blockage.

Tips for Preventing a Blocked Sink

Do not pour grease down the kitchen sink – Tipping fats, oils and grease down the kitchen is the most common reason why your kitchen sink drain will block up. Once these items cool, the fats solidify and stick to your kitchen sink pipes. Over time this will cause a blockage once the pipe becomes thinner, so make sure you tip your oil into a bottle or a sealed container, and then put it outside your property in the bin. Make sure you are careful even when washing your dinner plates, as even they may have small amounts of oil leftover from your meal, always use hot soapy water when rinsing.
Fruit or vegetable peels – this should be fairly obvious to most people, however we still see some of our customers emptying their peels down the sink, even small pieces can clog a drain. Make sure you dispose all of your fruit and vegetable peels into your garbage bin.
Coffee grinds – Another major cause of sink blockages that we see all the time is customers tipping their coffee grinds down the kitchen sink. If this is done continuously over time grinds can form a thick sludge causing the sink to become very clogged. The best way to dispose of coffee grinds is to tip them in your garden instead to fertilise your vegetables or plants and watch them grow!
Egg Shells – you may be surprised to think even the smallest of egg shells can cause a blockage in your kitchen sink . The hard shells of eggs can stick to the pipes and cause a build up which creates a nice blockage.
Expandable Carbohydrates – Foods like rice, pasta, cous cous, pastry and flour will keep expanding after they have been washed down your kitchen sink. They then become sticky and easily clog up your drain.
Produce Stickers – you may think produce stickers on fruit and vegetables are harmless, however if these stickers build up over time the plastic adhesive they are made of will not dissolve in water and can cause problems within the pipes