Pipes weren’t designed for half of the things that get flushed down the drain. It may seem that all is clear when there’s nothing left in the sink, but that doesn’t mean everything is OK with the pipes. Foods, including many of your favorite snacks, can stick to the pipes and other food particles to form clogs. Those clogs can then cause backups and damage to pipes.

The best way to avoid clogs and pipe damage is to scrape your plate of leftover food in the trash before putting it in the sink or dishwasher. It also helps to use a drain catcher to catch whatever food bits you can before they go down the drain.

Foods You Should Never Wash Down the Drain

A good rule of thumb is to limit what goes down the drain to only water and water-based foods. Here’s a list of food items to avoid:

• Nuts – Nuts break down in the garbage disposal and can easily latch on to other food particles in the pipes. Furthermore, they can turn into a paste, or nut butter, that later sticks to the pipes themselves, potentially causing a clog.
• Beans and pasta – Beans and pasta expand while cooking. Hot water is often used to rinse plates and clean the sink as well as to get rid of clogs. If those beans and pasta bits expand in the pipes, they could cause a clog.
• Peels and rinds – Potato peels, banana peels, and melon rinds are hard to break down. They can damage the blades of the garbage disposal or simply get stuck somewhere in the pipes. Furthermore, potato peels are starchy and sticky.
• Eggs and eggshells – Eggs are stringy foods that can wrap around the garbage disposal blades. Eggs, along with their outer shell, can cling to other food particles and cause clogs.
• Bones – Bones can damage the garbage disposal before getting stuck in the pipes.
• Meat and poultry – Chicken, steak, and pork are stringy foods when broken down into bits. Much like eggs, stringy foods can wrap around the blades of the garbage disposal as well as other food items in the pipes. Another thing to note is that when foods stick to garbage disposal blades, they begin to smell after a day or two. This means you’re much more likely to put damaging chemicals down the drain to get rid of the smell.

Keep Your Pipes Clean

The reality is that it’s nearly impossible to keep some food bits from washing down the drain. This is where a professional drain cleaning service is so beneficial. Drain cleanings get rid of any clogs that are stuck in the pipes. This will keep them from building to the point where they burst and cause significant damage to your property. Call us at Carlson Plumbing in Fountain Valley, CA for drain cleaning services.