Clogged drains caused by various reasons will also require different methods of clearing the drain to have the appropriate treatment method. Let’s first explore the possible causes of clogged dish sinks and then use the correct method to solve the clogging issue.
1. Causes of clogged drain pipes in dish sinks
– Food debris
One of the main culprits of clogged drain pipes is food and vegetable residues, especially common in kitchens. In fact, during food preparation, many people unintentionally leave behind some vegetable residues in dish sinks, although these vegetable residues should be removed. The size is not large, so it is not possible to scoop them out, but even small vegetable residues will gradually reduce the diameter of the drain pipes over time when accumulated.
– Grease
You should not think that only solid substances can clog drain pipes because even liquids are one of the reasons. For example, grease is the easiest to overlook but it is the main culprit that clogs drain pipes. Most people pour grease directly into the sewer with water after cooking, even when there is still a lot of grease on the surface of the pan (such as cream, olive oil, pork fat, etc.).
Liquids can flow smoothly through drain pipes, but due to the higher density of grease than water, it is very difficult to clean the grease clinging to the inside walls of the drain pipes with a normal water flow, unless the grease is dissolved with hot water. However, using hot water for a long time can also damage the inside walls of the drain pipes.
2. How to deal with clogged dish sinks
In the case of excess food debris causing drain pipe clogs, you can use mechanical methods to clear the clog.
– We can find a long, rigid wire and make a hook tool ourselves to remove the debris. This can also solve shallow clogs.
– Sometimes, using drain cleaning tools and applying pressure alternately on the drainage of dish sinks can also partly solve the problem.
For cases where drain pipes are clogged due to grease, we need to use the following tips:
First, we take a bottle of white vinegar and pour it into the dish sink drain pipe (you can pour more if you want faster results). White vinegar contains acetic acid, which can soften heavy oil stains inside the pipes. After pouring, we let it sit for a while and prepare for the next step.
Next, we take a bowl and pour an appropriate amount of baking soda into it. Baking soda has an alkaline property similar to laundry detergent and laundry water, so it has a good cleaning effect and can also effectively break down oil. Adding baking soda can break up heavy oil residues inside the pipes.
Then, we pour enough dishwashing liquid into the bowl. Normally, we use dishwashing liquid to clean dishes, but when combined with vinegar and baking soda, it will have double the effectiveness with only half the effort when used to remove oil stains in the pipes.
Next, we prepare some boiling water and pour it into the mixture. If there is hot water from the faucet at home, you can adjust the hot water to the highest level and flush it out. Hot water is also an effective tool to easily clean oil stains.
After that, you stir the mixture with a spoon for a while to completely dissolve the baking soda and the cleaning agent, and the drain pipe cleaning agent is ready to use.
Now, we use a spoon to pour the solution into the drain pipe. Since the drain pipe has been soaked in vinegar, most of the heavy grease inside has been softened. When the time comes, the surrounding oil will be cleaned and it will slowly flow down and stay still for about ten minutes.
Ten minutes later, we turn on the hot water faucet again. Turn the water output to the maximum hot level and use hot water to clean all the oil deposits in the drain pipe, making it easy to clean the drain pipe of the dish sink.
To limit the situation of clogged drain pipes, when we use dish sinks, we need to install a filter to catch vegetable residues and foreign objects falling into the drain. At the same time, foreign objects also need to be cleaned immediately to prevent foreign objects from falling into the drain and accumulating, causing clogs.
If your dish sink gets clogged in the future, you can use this method to clear the clog. However, if this method is still not effective in clearing the drain pipe, it may be blocked by foreign objects. At this point, you may need to find a professional plumber to clear the clog.
According to An Nhiên – Vietnamnet