Three Tips To Help Prevent Grease Clogs In Your Home Drains

Grease is one of the most common causes of plumbing clogs in homes. Even if you do not regularly fry food at home, there are oils and fats in many sauces and food scraps. It's important to take action to keep these out of your drains -- and that means more than just avoiding dumping the bacon grease down the drain. Here's a look at three other ways to help prevent grease clogs.

Pay close attention to what you send down the garbage disposal.

Having a garbage disposal comes in handy, but the disposal is not a license to put just anything down the drain. You should still avoid putting fatty and greasy items, even if they are cold and solidified, down the garbage disposal. Avoid putting meat scraps, buttery food (like leftover toast), and fatty sauces down the disposal, too. When you do put food down the disposal, make sure you run cold water the whole time. This way, if there does happen to be any fat in the items you're grinding up, the cold will at least make it less sticky and decrease your chances of a clog.

Scrape plates before washing.

Whether you have a dishwasher or you wash dishes by hand, it's good to get into the habit of scraping off your plates into the trash can before you wash them. This way, any fatty remnants will end up in the garbage rather than down the drain. Keep a rubber spatula on hand just for scraping plates; this makes the task a lot easier.

Clean your drains regularly.

Even if you adhere to the tips above, the occasional bit of fat or grease may make its way down your drain and cling to your pipes. This is not a huge deal as long as you take care if it before the clog grows large enough to impede the flow of water. So, make a habit of cleaning your drains every other week or so. There are a few ways to do this. You can just pour a pan of boiling water down the drain, which will loosen and rinse away most grime, or for sinks you suspect are dirtier, you can pour vinegar and baking soda down the drain. Use a cup of each. The foaming action and acidity of the vinegar will help wash away any grease deposits while they're still small.

To learn more about preventing clogs, speak with a plumber in your area.


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