Everyone has done it — you’re cleaning dishes, and you notice some food scraps on the plate. You take a split second to wonder if you should throw them in the trash or let the flowing water carry them away down the drain. In the end, you choose to let the food go down the drain. Depending on what you scraped away, you could be contributing to a clogged drain.

It’s essential to know what not to put down your kitchen drain. Can you put flour down the drain? What about potato peels and eggshells? If your kitchen sink gets clogged, it may be due to improper food and non-food items building up in your pipes over time. Use this guide to answer the question, “Why is my kitchen sink clogged?” and learn how to solve the issue.

Foods to Avoid Putting Down Your Drain

Plenty of foods should stay far away from your drains and pipes. Here are the ones you should throw away instead of washing down your drain.

• Coffee grounds: Though the grounds are small, they can accumulate in your pipes. They tend to make existing clogs even worse.
• Rice and pasta: You may have noticed how rice and pasta expand when you cook them in water. This same effect can happen in your drains. A few pieces of rice or pasta may seem like nothing, but they can swell in your pipes and cause a clog.
• Grease, fat and oils: These substances may be liquids at room temperature, but they can harden when exposed to cold water within your pipes, leading to clogs.
• Flour: Can Flour go down the drain? The short answer is no. Flour and water combine to form a gooey, pasty substance reminiscent of glue. The last thing you want is this substance in your pipes, so avoid putting flour down the drain.
• Fibrous foods: Vegetables like celery, asparagus, artichokes and corn husks have fibers that can get stuck in your drain. These fibers can even wrap around garbage disposal blades, making them ineffective and causing damage to the system.
• Meat trimmings: The fat of meat trimmings can clump together and form a greasy clog in your kitchen sink. You’re better off throwing them away.
• Potato peels: Much like flour and water, the starch from potato peels can mix with water and create a paste-like substance. Try roasting your peels in the oven for homemade chips instead!

Non-Foods to Keep Out of Your Drain

Food may be a common reason for clogged drains, but other items can contribute to a kitchen sink malfunction as well. Keep the following non-food items far away from your drains and pipes.

• Eggshells: Your garbage disposal shreds eggshells into fragments, but these pieces can stick to the sides of your pipes and contribute to clogs. Toss them in the trash or the compost pile instead.
• Medications: You may have heard people recommend flushing unused medications down the toilet or sink drain. Besides contributing to clogs, this poses a risk to the environment by introducing harmful chemicals to the water supply. You’re better off bringing your medications to a designated disposal site.
• Paint: Paint can cause horrible clogs in your drain, but it also poses a risk to the environment. Follow your location’s paint disposal mandates to dispose of your unused paint.
• Produce stickers: The little stickers on fresh fruits can clump together and cling to things, contributing to clogs. They’ll even stick to your garbage disposal blades, making them ineffective. Peel them off and throw them away before washing your fresh produce.
• Fruit seeds and pits: Seeds can accumulate and form a clog in your drains. Larger pits can damage your garbage disposal blades, and the fragments may get stuck in your pipes. You’re better off tossing them in the trash.
• Bones: Poultry, beef and pork bones are too dense for your garbage disposal, and their fragments can cause clogs. Throw them away in your kitchen trash can instead.

What Could Happen If Your Sink Gets Clogged

Having a clogged sink is no fun for anyone. Here are some of the issues you may encounter as a result of a clogged sink.

• Slow drain: You’ll experience standing water as you wash your hands and clean your dishes. The water will be slow to drain, and it could render your kitchen sink useless until someone fixes the issue.
• Returning water: With the most severe clogs, you may find water bubbling up from the drain and filling the sink. This water could be a breeding ground for bacteria and other health risks.
• Unpleasant odors: As the food particles in your drain begin to turn rancid, you may start experiencing unpleasant odors that can become unbearable.
• Leaks: The longer water stays trapped in your drains, the higher your chances of getting a leak. Drain leaks can lead to water damage and more costly issues.

What to Do When Your Sink Drain Gets Clogged

No one wants to deal with the unpleasant, inconvenient side effects of a clogged drain. You could spend hours troubleshooting the problem and trying to fix it yourself, only to come away covered in grime and still experiencing a clogged drain. And when you’re dealing with one of those, you know time is of the essence. Your kitchen may start to smell — then you’ll be in for an even worse time. So what’s the best way to unclog the kitchen sink?

Your best bet is to trust the experts at Leggett Inc. to fix your clogged kitchen sink. We’ve been unclogging kitchen sinks in the central Pennsylvania area for over 50 years, so we’ve seen it all. Some clogs can be difficult to remove, and doing it the wrong way can cause costly damage to your plumbing system. When you choose Leggett, you’re getting a 100% guarantee that we’ll do it right the first time.

Learn More About Our HVAC Services

The Environmentally Friendly Way to Prevent Clogs

After we unclog your kitchen sink, you’ll have the chance to prevent future clogs by doing things right before any issues occur. The first way to do this is to avoid putting any of the above items down your kitchen sink drain. If you notice the early signs of a clog, such as a slow drain, know that there is an environmentally friendly way to get things flowing again.

The hot-water-and-dish-soap method is friendlier on the environment than declogging chemicals. Here’s how it works:

1. Boil a small pot of water on the stove.
2. Mix in a few tablespoons of regular dish soap.
3. Slowly pour the hot water/soap solution into the sink with the clogged drain. Plug the other side of the sink if you have a double basin.
4. Let the water drain. It may take several minutes.
5. You might need to repeat this process a few times to clear the blockage.

Rely on Leggett Inc. for Your Blocked Kitchen Sink Needs

If you have a stubborn clog that won’t go away, call the experts at Leggett to resolve the issue. Our expert team has skills in several industries, so we can fix even the most troubling plumbing issues. And if we notice your drains are at risk of future clogs from poor installation, we can make the adjustments to get your plumbing system working better than ever before.

We hope you’ll contact us today for more information on how we can fix your clogged kitchen sink drain. Always make the Sure Call with Leggett Inc. We guarantee your satisfaction 100%!