We take our sinks for granted most of the time – they’re always there to be used whenever we need them.
Except for when they’re clogged.
There’s not much worse than unexpectedly finding your sink to be clogged and then having to spend ages unclogging it before you can use it again.
For this reason, we think it is so important to know how to unclog a sink from grease.
Don’t immediately think that you need to contact a professional, however, as you can most likely unclog it on your own! Save yourself some money and learn about how to unclog a sink on your own.
Sometimes, when the murky brown mixture of grease and water comes back up your pipes and into your sink, a plunger is enough to fix it.
However, sometimes the clog is too powerful for the plunger and you’ll need another plan.
Today we are looking into a few different ways that you can unclog your sink from grease naturally.
All of the things we will be talking about today can be used in the home without the help of any professional. Let’s get started, shall we?
What Is A Drain Clog And What Causes It?
The pipes leading down from your sink take the dirty water down into a waste chamber, where it is removed in one way or another.
This pipe, otherwise known as the drain, is constantly having to deal with dirty water, grime, and grease.
There are four things that you should not put down a drain pipe as they increase the chances of it clogging: fat, grease, food, and oil.
If these things were to go down the drain, they might stick to the sides of the pipe rather than being washed to the waste chamber.
As more of the substance is put down the drain, the layer that is being collected on the sides of the pipes will get thicker and thicker.
Once this layer becomes too thick, the pipe will clog and get blocked, even when you’re just trying to put water down it.
A clogged drain can be extremely annoying and difficult to fix. You’re going to have to remove all of the dried grease, which becomes much tougher as it dries into a solid state.
However, while it might be annoying, it is not impossible to resolve a clogged drain yourself.
Unclogging Your Sink At Home
Not all clogged sinks are going to be the same, and some will fare better than others with different methods of removal.
For example, while one clog might be removed with a plunger, another might need more severe methods to get the sink working properly again.
For this reason, we have looked into several methods so that you can trial them all until you find the one that works best for your current clogged sink.
The Plunger
Starting out with the old faithful, a plunger has been used for centuries to get rid of clogged drains.
They’re incredibly common and you probably have one lying around the house already. If you don’t have one, however, make sure that you buy a high-quality plunger to get the job done.
A high-quality plunger is a great tool that comes with maximum suctioning grip to loosen any grease within the pipe within minutes.
You can use the plunger on all drains, too – sinks, baths, showers, even toilets!
To use your plunger correctly, make sure that you prepare the surroundings properly.
Remove anything that you don’t want to get dirty as you might have greasy water splashing around once you start removing the clog.
Fill the sink halfway with warm water before using the plunger on the drain. Press the suction cup around the drain firmly before releasing the plunger.
The pressure from this movement will help to loosen some of the grease within the pipe.
Continue using the plunger for around 20 uses. If the clog persists and is still not removed by then, you might have to accept that you’re going to need the help of something stronger.
Your Garden Hose
A hose is a thin pipe that blasts a strong stream of water out of one end. This pressure can sometimes be strong enough to loosen the grease from within your drain and remove the clog.
A garden hose tends to be thicker than a drain and therefore won’t be as useful as a hose specifically designed for unclogging drains.
However, the pressure might still be enough to remove the clog, so if you don’t want to spend any money then this could be an excellent option.
However, if you do want to use a specialist hose, you can’t go wrong with the Sewer Jetter Kit.
This hose is thin enough to fit inside of the drain so that you can target the highly pressurized water towards the greasy clog.
Bear in mind that using a hose to unclog a sink will be messy with water spraying all over the place.
So, make sure that you’re protecting yourself and the rest of the room from greasy water splatters before using this method!
Salt Water
You can also try salt water to remove clogs. Salt is abrasive enough to loosen grease away from the pipes.
All you need to do is measure out half a cup of salt and pour it all down the drain. Now use warm water from the tap to flush the salt further into the pipes.
Continue doing this until the pipe is clean and the sink is draining quickly again. Salt is abrasive, but not as abrasive as cleaning products.
This makes the salt water method better for the health of your sink than continued use of cleaning solution.
A Long Strip Of Wire
Hair is a very common thing to get caught up in a sink’s drain, as it is so thin and malleable that it gets everywhere.
If grease gets into a drain already full of hair, the hair can act as a net to trap the grease and create a bigger clog.
If this describes your situation, a long thin wire could be the best way forward.
Take the wire and some pliers to bend the end of it in the shape of a hook. Thread the wire down into the drain and pull it out again. You should be able to pull the hair out, along with the grease.
Continue doing this until the drain is clear of grease. Test the drain – it should work like new!
Hot Soapy Water
Hot soapy water is a great option for any small clogs that are just starting to form.
If your pipes are starting to drain more slowly than usual, hot soapy water might be enough to melt the grease off of the pipes and flush it away.
Fill a large pan of water and boil it. Once boiled, add in a couple of tablespoons of dish soap and mix together.
Pour the solution down the drain and flush with warm water from the tap. Repeat this process as necessary.
Routine use of hot soapy water can prevent grease from building up into clogs, so this is a great preventative method.
Cleaning Solutions
Finally, when all else fails, you can also try a cleaning solution to remove clogs.
Cleaning solutions use chemicals to destroy clogs within minutes, so this is one of the most effective ways of removing a grease clog from a sink. You also won’t have to worry about making a mess with this option.
Depending on the clog that you’re dealing with, you might need a lot of cleaning solution to get rid of it.
Some may also take as long as a couple of hours to melt the grease away, especially if there is a lot of it. So pour the solution into your drain and leave it to work its magic.
Some people prefer not to use cleaning solutions as the chemicals can corrode the pipes if used too frequently.
So, don’t always opt for using chemicals if you can use another, safer method for the pipes.
How To Stop Grease From Clogging The Sink
Now that we’ve given you the answer of how to remove the grease clog from your sink, let’s take a look at how to avoid it from happening again.
The first rule is to never dispose of oil, grease, or fat down the sink. Instead, leave the cooking pan to cool so that the grease turns solid. You can now scrape it off of the pan and dispose of it in the bin.
Similarly, don’t wash any greasy dishes in the sink. Wipe as much of the grease off of the pan before washing it.
You can also use some of the options we listed above as preventative measures to avoid clogs.
Using both hot soapy water and salt water will melt the grease away from the inside of the pipes, hopefully avoiding it from being able to build up enough to clog in the first place.
Summary
We hope that our article has given you some useful tips on how to unclog your sink once grease has built up within the pipes. Work your way through these methods and one is sure to work!
Once you’ve finished unclogging the sink, make sure that you follow our tips to prevent it from getting blocked again!
The number one rule of plumbing is to never pour grease down the sink, so remember this – no matter how tempting it is to discard it this way.
