When it comes to kitchen sink clogs, plumbers have seen it all. As your plumbing is out-of-sight-out-of-mind, this usually leads to costly repairs. It’s easy to keep tossing risky foods into the sink if they’ve never caused problems before… but believe us, your luck will eventually run out. Even the best disposals are no match for these foods:
Greasy, Fatty, and Oily Foods
Grease coats the insides of your pipes and gradually builds up. Drainage suffers as pipes get more and more narrow from this build-up. The long list of no-no’s for your kitchen drains includes butter, bacon grease, pan drippings, salad dressing, gravy, mayonnaise, and more.
In short, if your doctor tells you to avoid certain foods, it’s probably bad for your drain as well. Anything that can clog your arteries can also clog your kitchen plumbing.
Let cooking grease congeal before disposing of it in the trash. If you must rinse grease off dishes, use only cold water.
Alternatively, you could protect your plumbing and help the planet all at the same time. Recycled cooking oil is a renewable resource used to make biofuel. Find out if there’s an oil recycling service near you. Some local fire departments will take used oil off your hands.
Starchy Foods
Have you ever noticed that foods like pasta, beans, and rice get bigger and bigger as they cook? If they lodge in your pipes, they keep on expanding every time you run water, blocking your water flow.
Stringy, Fibrous Foods
Examples include corn husks, corn, celery, artichoke leaves, and asparagus stems. Unless they’re finely chopped, fibrous strands can get tangled in your disposal blades. You’re looking at a blown motor and a big backup if this does occur.
Skins, Rinds, and Peels
Potato peels are hard to break down, and citrus fruit rinds are even tougher. Add these to the compost pile. Also, keep eggshells out of your disposal, they don’t sharpen the blades in your system contrary to popular belief. Likewise, bones and nutshells have no business anywhere near your sink as well.
Save yourself a lot of grief by paying closer attention to what you feed your disposal this year. For drain cleaning and garbage disposal services, contact Pro Energy Solutions at (800) 704-7340!
