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Why You Should Never Pour Grease Down Your Drain

Why You Should Never Pour Grease Down Your Drain

Fats, oils, and grease are all dangerous for your drain and pipes.

Your kitchen sink is the workhorse of your kitchen. Sure the stove and the fridge carry their weight, but without the kitchen sink, you couldn’t fill any pots, wash any produce, or clean any dishes. As you’re working and prepping, it is tempting to simply put all the debris down the sink, especially if you have a disposal. There are certain things that should never go down your sink, however, and FOGS are high on the list. FOGS stands for Fats, Oils, and Grease. These can easily clog up your kitchen sink and cause a huge mess. Read on to learn more.

What Grease Does

Fats, Oils, and Grease are often called by the acronym FOG and almost any city or municipality in the country advises people to never put FOGs down the drain. Why is that? For starters, think about the way that grease acts. When it is hot, it is liquid, and it is usually in that state that it is poured down drains. People pour it when it’s hot because once it cools down it solidifies. That solidification still happens, even if you can’t see it because it went down the pipes. When all of that fat and grease solidifies in your pipes because it cools down down there, you end up with a clog. Most people assumes that it just keeps on flowing out into the sewers, especially if you wash it down with hot water, and some of it does. But it only takes a little bit of stuck food or hair to trap that grease and give it a place to stick. Also, out in the sewers it is still doing that same damage, except in a system that serves thousands of people.

How To Clear A Clog

If you already have a FOG clog, what can you do? The first step is to try to clear it with a home remedy, specifically baking soda and vinegar. Put baking soda down the drain first and then follow it with the vinegar. The combination should break up and clear out the fats and grease. If it doesn’t, you should call in a professional plumber.

How to Prevent A Clog

Once your FOG clog is clear, make sure you don’t create the problem for yourself again. Never put grease, oil, or fats down the drain. Instead, wait for them to solidify in the pan or pour than into an old can. Once they’ve cooled and solidified, throw them away in the garbage.

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Give Master Plumbing a call at (301) 650-9100, or contact us online to get more information on how our expert plumbers can help you with just about anything plumbing-related! We have received Angie’s List Super Service Award recognition for plumbing and drain cleaning every year since 2007, in addition to the Best Plumber award from Best of Bethesda. We are fully licensed, bonded, and insured, and our service is unparalleled. Give us a call today—you won’t regret it! To see examples of our projects, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 22nd, 2022 at 1:43 pm. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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