In many cases you can avoid getting a clogged drain in your kitchen. The key is knowing the common causes so you can take steps to prevent them.
1. Food Residue
Food residue may be the most common form of a clog. If you don't have a garbage disposal, you need to carefully scrape every plate before it goes in the sink. You should also use a mesh drain strainer to catch anything you miss. Clean the strainer at least once a day. You should also run hot water down the drain once you are done with the dishes to minimize the amount of food residue left in the drain.
2. Blocked Disposal
For homes with a garbage disposal, you don't have to be as careful to scrape a dish cleanly before washing in the sink, but you should still avoid overloading the disposal. Further, don't put items like bones and vegetable peelings down the drain, as these will jam the disposal and lead to a clog.
3. Grease Clog
It may seem perfectly reasonable to wash cooking oil, fat, and bacon grease down the drain when cleaning the dishes. In small quantities, these items aren't likely to cause major issues as long as you use plenty of hot water to wash them down. In larger quantities, though, grease can collect in the drain and then solidify into a blockage after it cools. It will also trap other food particles in its mass, leading to a large clog.
4. Foreign Substances
It's not always food that clogs a kitchen drain. If you have been doing some DIY work around the house, make sure no one is cleaning out paint brushes in the sink. Latex paint, in particular, may rinse out of a brush only to solidify into a gooey mess inside the drain. Paint isn't the only foreign substance that causes clogs, either. Paper, plastic from packaging, an even metal twist ties and bread tabs can get stuck in a drain and lead to a clog.
5. Dishwasher Blockage
When the drain line in your dishwasher is blocked, the water will still need some place to go. All too often that place ends up as the drain line for the sink. If the sink only tends to back up when you are running your automatic dishwasher, then it is very likely that the actual clog is in one of the dishwasher lines. It will need to be cleaned out to to prevent future backups.
Contact a drain cleaning service for more help with your backed up kitchen drain.
