A slow-draining or completely blocked kitchen drain is a major frustration you don’t need. Besides smelling unpleasant and potentially damaging your pipes, it slows you down as you wait for your sink to empty.
Over time, warm fats, cooking oils and butter innocently slip down the drain, but instead of fully descending, they cool and solidify. Before long, that solid grease is catching hold of other small morsels of food, stopping them from making a clear escape.
But before you try to clear your blocked kitchen drain with a harsh chemical cleaner or call in a plumber, there’s an alternative method you can try.
Tackle your blocked drain with salt
Cleaning expert Lynsey Crombie, known as the Queen of Clean, recommends using a cooking staple to remove grease from kitchen drains. While this common ingredient is used to season food, it also dissolves grease.
And she adds, “Salt absorbs grease and liquid, lifts stubborn stains (even red wine), and is mildly antibacterial — making it perfect for soaking kitchen sponges or scrubbing chopping boards.”
In the social post, she shows herself pouring table salt down her kitchen drain, then boiling water.
The hot water and salt combo
This cleaning method is also recommended by Ato Energy, which shares on its blog how much salt to use. After removing the standing water from your sink, it says, “Pour about half a cup of table salt down the drain before pouring in the hot water. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then flush with hot water to clear the mixture.”
Keep up the good work
For general maintenance and to keep your kitchen drain smelling fresh and free-flowing, Ato Energy suggests using vinegar and baking soda.
It suggests removing any standing water before pouring about a cup of baking soda into the drain. Then, follow with an equal amount of white or apple cider vinegar.
“The solution will bubble. That’s good! It means the chemical reaction is working,” it says.
Then, once the bubbles subside, it says to place a stopper on the drain and wait 15 minutes. You can then finish by running hot water down the drain to see if the clog has cleared. If there’s still a blockage, it advises repeating the above steps.
To avoid future blockages, ATCO Energy advises, “You can avoid tough clogs by watching what you pour down your sink. Never put bacon grease, coffee grounds or oils down your kitchen drain.”
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