5 Things Never to Put Down Your Kitchen Drain

Your kitchen drain handles a lot, but it was never designed to be a trash can. Most of the stubborn clogs we clear in Central Texas kitchens trace back to the same five things. Keep these out of the drain and you'll avoid the most common — and most avoidable — blockages.

1. Grease, oil, and fat

Hot grease pours down the drain as a liquid, but it cools and solidifies inside your pipes. Over time it coats the pipe walls, traps food particles, and narrows the line until nothing gets through. This is the single most common cause of kitchen clogs we see.

Instead: let grease cool in the pan, pour it into a disposable container, and throw it in the trash. Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before washing.

2. Coffee grounds

Coffee grounds don't dissolve — they clump. Mixed with even a little grease, they form a dense sludge that settles in the trap and the horizontal run of pipe under your sink.

Instead: toss grounds in the trash or compost them.

3. Eggshells

The membrane inside an eggshell can wrap around a disposal's blades, and the ground-up shell particles settle into any grease already in the line, adding to the buildup.

4. Starchy and fibrous foods

Pasta, rice, potato peels, celery, and onion skins are trouble in two ways: starches swell with water and turn into a paste, and fibers tangle into a net that catches everything behind them.

5. "Flushable" wipes and paper towels

Despite the label, wipes and paper towels don't break down like toilet paper. They stay intact, snag on rough spots in the pipe, and are a leading cause of main-line blockages.

If the drain is already slow

A slow drain is an early warning, not a nuisance to ignore. Skip the chemical drain cleaners — they're hard on pipes and rarely fix the real blockage. A professional cleaning clears the line completely and safely.