Order summary
Keep fats, oils and grease out of the sink. Scrape scraps into the green bin, not the sink. Do not treat a garbage disposer as a bin. Run cold water when the disposer is on. That covers most of it.
Numbered steps
- Cool and collect cooking fat. Pour it into a can or jar, let it harden, and put it in the garbage. Paper-towel the grease out of pans before they meet the sink.
- Scrape scraps into the green bin, not the sink. Toronto's Green Bin program takes food scraps, and paper towels used to wipe grease can usually go there too. Check the City's current list.
- Use a sink strainer. A basket strainer catches rice, peels and other bits before they reach the trap.
- Watch the starches. Rice, pasta and potato peels swell and turn into paste. A disposer grinds them into a sludge that settles in the line.
- Bin coffee grounds and eggshells. Grounds clump with grease; shell fragments behave like sand.
- Flush with plain hot tap water after greasy washing-up. It helps move soap scum along, but it will not dissolve set grease further down.
Plumber's tip: Wipes marked flushable or compostable do not belong in any drain. They do not break down in pipes the way toilet paper does.
Errors we see on site
- Pouring hot grease with boiling water. It stays liquid for a few feet, then cools and sticks to the pipe wall further along, often inside the wall where you cannot reach it.
- Routinely using chemical drain cleaners. They can damage older pipes and traps, and they make the next repair unpleasant and dangerous for whoever opens the trap.
- Using the dishwasher as a disposer. Dishwashers drain through the same branch. Food left on plates ends up in the same line.
- Ignoring gurgling. A sink that gurgles or drains slower each week is telling you the pipe is narrowing.
Older North York houses often have galvanized steel kitchen branches. The rough inside of old steel holds grease better than smooth plastic, so the same habits close an old line faster.
Holiday cooking is a common trigger. A turkey roasting pan, a pot of soup stock and a sink full of dishes in one evening can finish off a line that was already narrow.
When the desk should come out
Call if plunging does not clear the sink, if the clog keeps coming back, if the dishwasher leaves standing water, or if water rises in the other bowl. Those signs usually mean the blockage is past the trap, in the branch line. Our kitchen sink drain clearing page explains what we do and what we write up.
If more than one fixture is slow, the problem may be in the main line. That job needs main sewer line clearing. And for kitchen lines that keep closing despite good habits, hydro jetting can scour the grease that a cable leaves behind.
To book, call (365) 517-5705.
Quick checklist
- Wipe pans with paper before washing
- Never pour fat down the sink
- Run hot water after the dishwasher drains
Your questions on this one
Can a small splash of oil go down the drain if I run hot water?
No. Even small amounts add up, and hot water only carries it further into the pipe before it sets.
Do enzyme drain cleaners work?
They can help with light buildup over time. They will not clear a solid clog.