Homeowner library · Drains
Grease and your kitchen drain
Grease is the single biggest cause of kitchen drain blockages. Understanding how it builds up makes it much easier to prevent.
- Plain steps you can check yourself
- When it is safe to try and when to stop
- What a plumber does next
- One phone call if you want it handled
- Licensed, insured trade work (details confirmed when you call)
- Diagnosis before anything is cut
- Emergency calls taken
- Etobicoke and the west end
How grease builds up
Warm fat flows easily but cools within the first metre or two of pipe. It sticks to the pipe wall and traps food particles. Layer by layer, the pipe narrows until water cannot pass.
- Long horizontal runs in basement ceilings are where this happens most.
Why hot water does not help
Running hot water with grease just carries it a few feet more before it cools again. Dish soap can emulsify some grease, but not enough to keep it suspended through the whole line.
- Enzyme products can help slightly but do not replace good habits.
Habits that work
Wipe pans with a paper towel before washing. Pour fat into a container. Use a sink strainer. Run cold water with a disposal. Have heavily used lines cleaned periodically before they block.
- If your sink clogs every year, a jetting may restore the pipe fully.
What a professional cleaning does
A cable punches through the grease plug but leaves most of the coating on the pipe wall. Hydro-jetting scours the full pipe diameter and flushes the grease down to the main. For a kitchen line that clogs repeatedly, jetting restores much more of the original flow. A camera before and after shows the difference.
- After cleaning, good habits keep the line clear much longer.
Signs of grease build-up
The sink drains slowly after washing dishes.
- Water backs up into the second bowl.
- A sour smell rises from the drain.
- The dishwasher leaves water behind.
- Any of these suggest the line is narrowing.
Four habits for a clear kitchen line
Wipe first
Paper towel in pans before they go in the sink.
Contain the fat
Cooled fat into a container, not the drain.
Strain
Keep a strainer in every kitchen drain.
Maintain
Book cleaning if clogs repeat yearly.