Whenever there’s a holiday, we our first thoughts usually go towards ‘food.’ Cookouts, potlucks, and brunches all make for a lot of food that can could potentially make its way down your drain. Just because food waste can make it through your garbage disposal doesn’t mean that it won’t wreak havoc on your plumbing drain lines. It’s always best to scrape scraps into the trash, use drain strainers to catch food debris, and collect fats and grease in a jar or can for easy disposal.
What NOT to put down kitchen drains and garbage disposals:
-Fats, oils, and grease. When cooled, they will stick to drain pipes and grab onto solids that make their way down the drain.
-Butter (80% fat), ranch dressing (50% fat), mayo (30% fat), and ice cream (10% fat). These can easily congeal and build up over time creating a water-resistant barrier.
-Celery,corn husks, and vegetable skins. Fibrous items can wrap around disposal blades and stop them from working.
-Coffee grounds. You’d think coffee grounds are small enough to go down a drain easily but when they mix with oil or grease already coating your pipes, it creates a recipe for disaster.
-Eggshells. When ground up in your disposal, those small pieces will get stuck to your pipe walls and cause blockages or slow drains.
-Pasta and rice. These will expand while they absorb water and can even ‘glue’ itself to your drain lines.
A few of the wrong things down your kitchen kitchen drain can turn into a costly sewer main blockage. Keep your drain flowing freely by avoiding 
putting food and grease down your drain when you could put it in the trash. Drain clogs are inevitable so you may want to keep a cup plunger handy for clogged sinks. If the clog seems a bit more of a doozy, give us a call at 785-341-4193 to have our technicians take care of your situation.
De Hart Plumbing Heating and Cooling, serving Manhattan Kansas, Junction City Kansas, Wamego Kansas, Topeka Kansas, and some surrounding areas.
