Stay On Top of Your Kitchen Sink Maintenance!

Your Simple Kitchen Sink Maintenance Plan

Having a simple kitchen sink maintenance plan can go a long way for the health of your kitchen sinks. We know you probably don’t spend much of your day thinking about your kitchen sink, but as the GTA’s top plumbing experts, we certainly do. We know it to be an important and hardworking component of your home’s plumbing and drainage system. In order for it to work seamlessly with the rest of this system, it can need a little bit of kitchen sink maintenance. That’s why we recommend following a simple yet effective maintenance routine. Regular upkeep of your sinks will keep your kitchen running as it should.

Keep Your Kitchen Sink And Its Vicinity Clean

A simple solution in kitchen sink maintenance is simply keeping your kitchen sink clean. This should also be your number one priority. By minding what is able to flow down its drains, you can delay—or outright prevent—a build-up from clogging your sink. Ideally, you should only allow soap and water to wash down your drains, but we understand that can be difficult to manage in a busy kitchen. To help you keep unwanted items from getting down your drains and causing problems, install a mesh strainer to fit over your drain. This will keep food particles from washing down with the water.

Be Cautious Of Grease And Oil

Kitchen sink maintenance is often difficult to do when you’re cooking with oils or grease. Be sure never to let any grease or oil to flow down this drain as well, as this fat will stay within the pipes and trap food and other particles that manage to get past your trap. Over time, enough food will get stuck to create a significant clog and back up your sinks. Avoiding this situation is simple. Before you place greasy plates or pots into your sink, pour the fat into a container that can be thrown out once the fat has congealed. Give any plate and pot a quick swipe of a paper towel to rid it of any additional grease that’s left behind.

Your Safe DIY Solution

If you notice your drains are still slow to drain, you don’t necessarily need to call us for repairs. You can try a simple and non-invasive DIY solution before you pick up your phone. Pour ¼ cup of white vinegar down your sink. Vinegar is a excellent, it is a green alternative to caustic pipe cleaning chemicals, and it’s not harmful to you or your home. Don’t run any water for at least an hour to allow the vinegar to get to work at whatever’s made a home in your pipe. Once it’s had time to sit, follow it with the hottest tap water possible. This should clear minor clogs that are slowing down your sink. It will also remove any gross odors as well!

For sinks installed with a garburator, the above rules don’t apply. You’ll allow food to regularly go down your sink; however, it’s still important to take care with how you use it. Before and after you use your garbage disposal unit, always run the coldest water your tap is capable of for at least 15 seconds. This will ensure everything is flushed through the line properly. Use only cold water, as it will ensure the kitchen scraps remain in a solid (and therefore easy to clear) state.  Don’t put any fibrous or overly stringy scraps through your garburator. These items (like celery, animal skins, and banana peels) are too hard for your garbage disposal to successfully grind.

The garburator is often forgotten in kitchen sink maintenance. To keep your garbage disposal free of foul odors due to food build-up, try pouring a pea-sized amount of dish soap while the machine is on. Alternatively, you can crush a cup of ice cubes with the rinds of any citrus fruit you have on hand. Our favorite is a mixture of lemons and limes.

Need More Information Or Tips?

Simple though these steps may be, they go a long way to keeping your kitchen sink happy and working as it should. Despite your best efforts, however, sometimes clogs happen. In the case of tenacious clogs, stubborn odors, or strange sounds, call our plumbing experts. A quick and efficient visit will have your sink back to normal.