What Not to Put Down Your Drain
Most clogged-drain calls trace back to a short list of everyday items.
Call for Plumbing HelpGrease and cooking oil
Hot grease pours like a liquid and cools like a wax. It coats the inside of the line, then catches everything that follows. Pour it into a can, let it set, and throw it away.
Wipes and paper products
Flushable wipes do not break apart the way toilet paper does. They snag on any roughness in a line and build into a mass. The same is true of paper towels, cotton products, and dental floss.
Disposal limits
A garbage disposal grinds soft food scraps. Fibrous items like celery and corn husks wrap the impellers; starchy items like rice, pasta, and potato peels swell and pack the trap. Coffee grounds behave like sand and settle in the line.
Outside the kitchen
Cat litter, joint compound, and paint solids all set up inside a drain line. If it turns solid in a bucket, it turns solid in a pipe.