If you’ve ever had to call the plumber to help after your sink has backed up, you know how big of a paint that can be. The most common cause for that is not doing a good enough job at preventing cooking grease from going down the drain. Adding a squirt or two of dish soap into you kitchen sink drain will help keep your grease build up to a minimum. It will also keep your drain smelling good too!
Here’s what you should do:
1. Start with an empty sink. Remove and clean the sink strainer, if you have one. (If not, you should definitely get one!)
2. Next, use a scrub brush to clean off any food or gunk from around the drain where it often builds up. (Remember to never put your fingers down the drain with a disposal on it)
3. Then put a couple squirts of dish soap into the drain, wait 30 seconds for the soap to run down the drain, and follow it with hot water. Continue to use your brush to agitate any soap on top of the drain and in the bottom of the sink. Allow the hot water to run for about 60 seconds. It is okay if you see bubbles, allowing them to remain in the drain will increase the amount of time the degreasing soap spends on the sides of the pipe.
It is recommended to do this weekly, and anytime after you have a lot of dishes that might have contained greasy foods.