7 Expert Tips for Avoiding Drain Clogs in Commercial Kitchens

When you’re cleaning your kitchen, it might seem practical to get rid of small food remnants or liquids down your kitchen drain.

However, if you ask the professionals of commercial plumbing services, they’ll give you a rundown of things that they’ve seen dumped down kitchen drains that you might not think will cause an issue.

In this article, we’ll talk about how prevention is important to keep your kitchen drain clear and running properly. Here are seven expert tips for avoiding drain clogs in commercial kitchens.

1. Don’t dump cooking oil or grease

Ask any commercial plumber, and they’ll tell you that cooking oils and grease are the number one reason for a clogged kitchen drain. Many people think that cooking oils are in a liquid format like water, so it’s fine to dump them down the drain.

Plus, after you’re done cooking, it’s just convenient to pour them down the drain. However, that is far from the truth.

Any kind of cooking oil (like salad dressing, sauces, olive oil, and condiments) can easily clog your kitchen drain. The solution is to dispose of cooking oils and sauces in the garbage like the rest of your kitchen waste.

2. Avoid dumping cleaning products

Along with cooking oils, cleaning products should not be dumped in your kitchen drain due to their harmful and toxic chemicals.

To avoid water pollution, never pour cleaning products that contain ammonia or bleach into the drain, as they end up in rivers and lakes and could contaminate the water. Help the environment and throw cleaning products in their original packaging into the garbage.

3. Use a mesh drain strainer

One of the most effective ways to prevent a clogged kitchen drain is to use a mesh drain strainer. By placing a mesh drain strainer in your sink, any non-liquids like small leftover food items, rice, or beans will stay trapped in the strainer and won’t go down the drain.

Once you’re done cleaning, remove the strainer and throw away the solids in your garbage. You then remove the trap and toss the solids into your trash can, and place the empty drain strainer back into your sink.

You can find mesh drain strainers or baskets at your local home hardware store for less than $10 each.

4. Rinse your drain with hot water

Even if you avoid dumping grease down your kitchen drain and use a mesh drain strainer, getting rid of every spot of grease on each plate after rinsing it is virtually impossible. So, what can you do about it?

After every dish has been washed and you’re done cleaning in the kitchen for the night, run very hot water down the drain for a few minutes to wash away any residue that built up in your drain that day.

If you can’t do it every day, give your drain one deep clean with hot water at least once a week. If you want to take it up a notch, sprinkle some baking soda down your kitchen drain, wait a few minutes, and then rinse it with hot water to keep your sink smelling clean and fresh.

5. Use natural cleansers

Despite having “biodegradable” labelled on store-bought products, many commercial cleansers are made with chemicals that could potentially harm your pipes. Instead of purchasing cleansing products, you’ll save a lot of money if you use natural cleansers like vinegar.

Vinegar is such an inexpensive cleaning product that many people look over it because we’re taught to use it for cooking. However, did you know that acetic acid in plain white vinegar is a natural solvent that decreases the build-up of leftover food particles inside your plumbing system?

To try this method, pour a cup of vinegar down your drain, wait for 30 minutes, then rinse the drain with hot water. The acid in vinegar breaks down the residue of grease that may be forming in your drain.

Keep in mind that if you already have a clogged kitchen sink, the vinegar method won’t do much.

It’s not a solution but a preventative measure to keep your drains running smoothly.

If your kitchen sink is completely clogged, call for the help of a professional commercial plumbing service to fix the problem and get your kitchen sink draining properly again.

6. Don’t discard food scraps down the sink

Professional plumbers will tell you that they’ve seen all kinds of food scraps being dumped down kitchen sinks. Despite having a garbage can, people still think that dumping small food remnants of rice, beans, and seeds in a kitchen sink is fine. It isn’t at all.

The only thing that should be going through your kitchen sink is water and nothing else.

Always make it a habit of placing all food scraps, no matter how small they are, into your garbage can before rinsing your dishes. This simple practice will help keep your kitchen drain clean and free from clogs.

7. Use your garbage disposal properly

If your kitchen sink has a garbage disposal, use it properly by informing everyone in your household on what should and shouldn’t be dumped in the disposal. Here’s a list of items that shouldn’t be dumped in your garbage disposal. Toss the following items into the garbage instead:

• Bones
• Coffee grounds
• Eggshells
• Food label stickers
• Fruit and vegetable peels
• Meat pieces
• Paint
• Pasta
• Potatoes
• Rice
• Paper products

Don’t forget to use cold water during usage and after your garbage disposal is turned off for at least one minute. The cold water helps grind and flush out the food particles down the kitchen drain.

Contact Brothers Plumbing for Commercial Plumbing

As you can see, taking these steps to get into the habit of preventing your kitchen sink from getting clogged is not hard to implement at all.

If you would like a free quote on our commercial plumbing services, our team at Brothers Plumbing is here to help with fixing clogged kitchen sinks. Call us at 800-741-8471 or contact us here.