Drain issues often occur in the kitchen. You may deal with a flooded dishwasher or something much larger that affects the entire plumbing system. Whatever the issue is, it usually results from the mistreatment of the drains in the kitchen, and it leads to frustration and costly repairs. Luckily, it is entirely possible to prevent these types of plumbing problems before they have a chance to occur. Here are a few tips that will help you keep your kitchen drains healthy.

Avoid Pouring Grease Down the Drains

When you are cleaning up the kitchen after a meal, you may think that it is no big deal to simply dispose of the grease in the sink. However, the truth of the matter is that this is very harmful. While it may appear that the grease goes smoothly down the kitchen drain at first, it will later solidify, creating a huge trap for anything else that goes down the drain. Unfortunately, this can create serious clogs and backups that require costly repairs down the road.

Make Sure to Run Cold Water When the Disposal Is in Use

When you use your kitchen's garbage disposal, it is always a good idea to run water at the same time. The reason for this is because it will help in the flushing of the food waste down the kitchen drain. Without the water, the food could just sit there in the disposal and build up. You do want to make sure that you use cold water instead of hot water to help ensure that any fats and oils that are lingering remain solid.

Try Not to Overload the Disposal

While it is entirely fine to send some food scraps down the disposal, you do not ever want to dispose of starchy or fibrous food waste, non-food items, or too much food at any given time. The garbage disposal can only handle so much at one time, and it is not designed to break down anything and everything. If you try to overload it, it could become damaged and result in clogs.

Run the Disposal Regularly

You may not use your disposal every single day to get rid of food waste, but it is a good idea to run it on a regular basis. This will keep the disposal in good condition and avoid any residual food waste from building up. When performing this simple task, consider putting a few drops of dish soap in the disposal, as this will help to loosen up any oils or fats that may have gotten stuck.

The aforementioned tips will help keep your kitchen drains and disposal healthy and working better. For more tips or if you are experiencing any issues, contact a plumber.

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