11 Things You Should Never Pour Down Your Kitchen Sink

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11 Things You Should Never Pour Down Your Kitchen Sink

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Image Credits: Wikimedia; licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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Cooking Oil and Grease

Cooking Oil and Grease (image credits: flickr)
Cooking Oil and Grease (image credits: flickr)

That leftover bacon grease might look like liquid gold, but it’s your kitchen sink’s worst nightmare. Never pour cooking oil down your kitchen sink as it mixes with any debris, creating congealed, greasy sludge that quickly clogs drains – especially because oil is water-resistant.

The problem gets worse when you realize what happens after that oil cools down. When you pour grease down the drain, it sticks to the inside of your pipes and the pipes in the street, causing the entire pipe to become clogged over time. Even if you dilute it with hot soapy water, the substance can re-solidify in your drain, causing pipe clogs and blockages.

Your best bet is to let cooking oils and fats cool down completely, then scrape them into the trash. Think of it like this: would you smear butter on the inside of a straw and expect water to flow through it? That’s essentially what you’re doing to your pipes.

Coffee Grounds

Coffee Grounds (image credits: unsplash)
Coffee Grounds (image credits: unsplash)

Here’s something that might surprise you if you’re a daily coffee drinker. Coffee grounds are one of the most common causes of kitchen sink clogs as they are not totally water-soluble and will stick together when wet. Despite what some old wives’ tales might tell you, nothing causes more blockages and clogged drains than coffee grounds and grease.

Most plumbers will tell you that coffee grounds are the most likely cause of clogs in kitchen pipes, and when you dump a clump of wet grounds down the drain, they turn into an impassable, cement-like substance that won’t break down. The grounds don’t dissolve in water like instant coffee does – they actually clump together and create a perfect foundation for other debris to stick to.

Instead of rinsing those grounds down the drain, toss them in your compost bin. Coffee grounds make excellent fertilizer because they’re rich in nitrogen, and your plants will thank you for it.

Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications

Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications (image credits: pixabay)
Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications (image credits: pixabay)

This one’s a big deal for reasons that go way beyond your personal plumbing. If you flush your unused or expired medication or crush it up and pour it down the drain, those chemicals will be leaked back into your drinking water and the environment, which is why you should always dispose of unwanted medication at your local pharmacy or police department.

Water treatment plants are generally not equipped to remove medicines, and while POTWs may remove some pharmaceuticals incidentally, many pass through and enter the environment because POTWs are not designed to remove pharmaceuticals. The scale of this problem is staggering – only nine out of 118 assessed pharmaceuticals were removed from wastewater during the treatment processes with an efficiency of over 95 per cent, and nearly half of the compounds were removed only partially with an efficiency of less than 50 per cent.

Research shows this isn’t just theoretical. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that, annually, at least two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths in the U.S. are caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Research in recent years has revealed that pharmaceuticals are now a common contaminant in drinking water.

Flour and Baking Ingredients

Flour and Baking Ingredients (image credits: unsplash)
Flour and Baking Ingredients (image credits: unsplash)

Ever tried washing flour off your hands? Then you know exactly why this is a problem. There’s a reason why mixing batter for a cake is hard on your arms: flour mixed with water creates a thick and glue-like slurry, and you can imagine that same mix down your drains causing blockages.

Flour should never go down your kitchen sink if you want to avoid a drain pipe blockage as flour thickens when mixed with water which can clog your drain by coating the pipes and blocking other disposables from making their way down. It’s basically like pouring cement down your drain, except this cement gets stickier when wet.

The smart move is to scrape excess flour and dough into the trash before washing your baking tools. Your future self will thank you when you’re not dealing with a kitchen sink that drains slower than molasses.

Fruit and Vegetable Stickers

Fruit and Vegetable Stickers (image credits: wikimedia)
Fruit and Vegetable Stickers (image credits: wikimedia)

Those tiny little stickers on your apples and bananas seem harmless enough, but they’re surprisingly destructive. Many times people wash their fruit and forget to take the sticker off; it falls in the sink and you eventually just let it go down the drain, but those little stickers don’t dissolve in water and can clog your pipes and block screens and filters or pumps at the water treatment plant.

While the stickers on your fruit and vegetables may not look harmful, they can cause huge blockages in your drain pipe over time, and the stickers don’t dissolve in water which can clog your pipes and cause even more damage to the environment. They’re typically made of plastic, and once they get into your plumbing system, they can stick to pipe walls and catch other debris.

Make it a habit to peel off those stickers before you wash your produce. It takes two seconds and could save you from a plumbing disaster down the road.

Eggshells

Eggshells (image credits: flickr)
Eggshells (image credits: flickr)

This might shock you if you’ve been tossing crushed eggshells down the disposal thinking they’re harmless. Regardless of what you may have heard, it is NOT a good idea to put eggshells down your kitchen sink because of the thin membrane within the shell that, just like potato peels and onion skins, creates a perfect “net” that will help gather up other foodstuffs and create a blockage.

You might think that a crushed up eggshell will go down the drain smoothly, but it actually is causing a blockage as the sharp, hard edges of the shell will collect other things coming down your drain and eventually cause a clog. Crushed eggshells, no matter how small they are, can cause big problems as they can not only cause blockages on their own, they can also collect other items that travel down the kitchen sink, forming a massive clog in your drain pipe that will need to be professionally cleared.

Toss those shells in the compost or trash instead. Your garbage disposal isn’t a magic solution – it’s just pushing the problem further down the line where it becomes an even bigger headache.

Paint and Chemical Products

Paint and Chemical Products (image credits: unsplash)
Paint and Chemical Products (image credits: unsplash)

Paint should never be washed down your sink as paint contains many toxins and chemicals that should not end up in our water supply, whether oil- or water-based. The environmental impact goes way beyond your personal plumbing system.

Depending on what type of paint you’re looking to dispose of, the recommended method varies, yet one thing remains the same regardless of type: Do not rinse it down the drain, and if you’re dealing with oil-based paint (which is considered hazardous to the environment), you should avoid discarding it in the trash, even if you dry it up first, so contact your local Hazardous Household Waste collection center.

The same goes for cleaning products. Even though most cleaning products are liquid, they should never be poured down the drain because they contain harmful chemicals with many containing phosphates, antibacterial agents, and other compounds that aren’t removed at the water treatment plant and can be hazardous to the ecosystem.

Rice and Pasta

Rice and Pasta (image credits: flickr)
Rice and Pasta (image credits: flickr)

Here’s something that’ll make you think twice about that post-dinner cleanup routine. Cooking rice is magical – you pour one small-looking cup of dry rice into water and by the time it’s done cooking, it doubles itself, so remember that act of expansion as you’re doing dishes after dinner because if you rinse rice down the drain, once it mixes with the water, it will expand, and can ultimately clog your pipes.

Your drainpipe has a fixed width, and once you put pasta down the drain, it continues to absorb liquid and swell, taking up more space than you could have predicted, with the cause of the swelling being semolina, a flour made from durum wheat. Think about it – if a handful of rice can become a full bowl when cooked, imagine what a few stray grains can do in your pipes over time.

Always scrape plates completely before rinsing, and consider using a sink strainer to catch any rogue grains that might slip by. It’s a simple habit that can prevent some seriously expensive plumbing bills.

Dairy Products

Dairy Products (image credits: pixabay)
Dairy Products (image credits: pixabay)

That sour milk you’re about to pour down the drain? Stop right there. Next time you discover your milk has gone sour, do not head for the sink as dairy down the drain can cause clogs if the milk has curdled, and it can be harmful to the environment, too.

Curdled dairy products create chunky, sticky masses that love to grab onto anything else flowing down your pipes. Plus, the proteins in dairy can break down in your plumbing system and create some truly unpleasant odors that’ll have you wondering if something died in your walls.

Instead of dumping spoiled dairy products down the drain, pour them into your compost bin or simply throw them in the trash. Your nose and your plumber will both appreciate the courtesy.

Cleaning Products and Bleach

Cleaning Products and Bleach (image credits: unsplash)
Cleaning Products and Bleach (image credits: unsplash)

Pouring bleach down the drain may seem like it will help keep your drain unblocked, though in reality it isn’t effective at dissolving clogged drains as it can’t break down foods or grease, and underneath your sink in the P trap, it will remain here until more liquid flushes it out, and while sitting here, the chemicals can deteriorate your pipes, and further react with other liquids poured down the drain – who knows what toxic fumes you could be releasing into your home?

Not only can pouring bleach down your drain inspire dangerous chemical reactions and release harmful fumes, but it can also damage your pipes, which is why you should avoid pouring any cleaning products down the drain, especially since doing so can lead to water pollution.

The irony is thick here – the very products designed to clean your home can actually damage your plumbing system. Stick to using these products as directed, and dispose of any leftovers at hazardous waste collection sites.

Boiling Water

Boiling Water (image credits: wikimedia)
Boiling Water (image credits: wikimedia)

Wait, what? This one might catch you off guard, especially if you’ve been using boiling water to “clean” your drains. Over time, recurrent boiling water down the drain can deteriorate pipes, so instead, wait for the water to cool down a bit before straining and draining.

While a single pot of boiling water probably won’t destroy your plumbing, the repeated thermal shock from extremely hot water can cause pipes to expand and contract, leading to cracks and joint failures over time. This is especially true for PVC pipes, which are common in modern homes.

When you’re draining pasta or vegetables, let that water cool for a few minutes first. It’s a small change that can add years to your plumbing system’s lifespan.

The Bottom Line on Sink Safety

The Bottom Line on Sink Safety (image credits: unsplash)
The Bottom Line on Sink Safety (image credits: unsplash)

Your kitchen sink isn’t a garbage disposal wonderland – it’s a carefully engineered system that works best when you treat it with respect. The twelve items we’ve covered represent the most common culprits behind expensive plumbing repairs, environmental damage, and those three-AM emergencies that nobody wants to deal with.

Think of your sink like a highway: it works great when everyone follows the rules, but one person dumping coffee grounds is like someone driving the wrong way in the fast lane. The effects ripple out to everyone downstream, literally in this case.

The good news is that avoiding these sink sins is actually pretty easy once you make it a habit. Keep a small trash can near your sink, use a compost bin for organic waste, and remember that when in doubt, throw it out (in the trash, not the drain). Your future self will thank you when you’re not dealing with backed-up sinks, expensive plumber visits, or contributing to environmental problems that affect everyone’s water supply. What’s one habit you could change today to protect your plumbing tomorrow?

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