Avoiding Grease and Oil Drain Clogs

For those who regularly cook or utilize the kitchen around the home, you’ve probably learned over time how to deal with grease and oils. The experienced homeowner knows that these kinds of oils should be kept from going down pipes whenever possible, as they might solidify and lead to clogs, and therefore takes steps to prevent this from happening.

At Expert Services- Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical, our drain cleaning experts are here to help. If you’re new to this theme, here are a few methods we can offer that will limit the risks of grease causing a major drain blockage in your home.

Garbage Disposal

In some cases, it’s inevitable that grease or oils of some kind will end up in your sink or even down the drain. This isn’t optimal, of course, but don’t worry – there are still things you can do.

The first is to utilize your garbage disposal. If the grease or oils are running into the side of your sink where the disposal is located, simply turn the water on as cold as you can right away. This will solidify the grease before it makes its way too far down the pipe. After a few minutes of running cold water to harden the deposit, run the disposal to shred it up. Keep the cold water on while you run the disposal.

Using Heat

What about if grease or oil gets into the sink drain where you don’t have a garbage disposal? In this case, you should actually go in the opposite direction: Quickly turn the water up as hot as possible. This will move the grease along the pipe and hopefully out of the drain system before it can settle and solidify.

Freezing Grease

For cases where you have control over grease and it hasn’t reached a drain, there’s a temptation to just pour it in the trash – resist this! This will make your trash can smelly, wet and disgusting. Instead, pour the leftover grease or oils into a plastic Tupperware container or bag, then put it in the freezer. The night before trash collection day, take the grease out and scrape it into the bag right before you take it out to the curb to avoid odors or wetness inside.

For more on avoiding grease and oil risks in your drains, or to learn about how our plumbers can help with this or any of our other plumbing services, speak to the pros at Expert Services- Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical today.