Blocked Up: Straightforward Advice About Plumbing Issues

If you have noticed that your kitchen drain has an unpleasant smell, or if the water has been draining slowly, then you might be concerned that you have a blocked drain. If you're worried about this, you might also be worried about what might have caused the blocked drain. After all, you probably want to avoid making the same mistakes that might cause your drain to become blocked again. If you hire a professional to come and clean out your blocked drain, they might be able to provide more information about what happened. However, these are a few possible causes.

Not Scraping Plates Properly

One of the most common reasons why people find themselves dealing with blocked kitchen sink drains is because they don't scrape their plates off properly before putting them in the sink or rinsing them off. Make sure that you scrape even the small bits of food from your plate into the trash can before you put your plate in the sink. Otherwise, those bits of food could find their way into your drain and could begin to accumulate. If this happens, then a sink clog could occur.

Pouring Grease Down the Drain

Another common mistake that many people make is pouring cooking grease down their sink drain. At first, it might seem like the grease has gone down the drain like it's supposed to. You might have even heard that running a little bit of hot water and soap down the drain, along with the grease, will keep everything moving like it's supposed to. However, it's still very risky to pour grease down your kitchen sink. After all, it can harden and form in your pipes, preventing other things from going down the drain like they are supposed to. There are special containers that you can purchase and use for disposing of grease, so consider using one of these containers instead so you can save your drains.

Not Using a Sink Strainer

If you don't have a sink strainer on your sink drain, now is a good time to buy one. These handy strainers work to catch debris before it makes its way down the sink drain. Sink strainers don't cost much and should fit nicely in your drain to prevent debris from causing clogs. You can simply clean your strainer off when it gets filled with debris, which should be an easy way to clean out your sink drain.