Plumbing tips · October 24, 2026
Something lurking in the kitchen drain
A kitchen sink that drains slower every week is usually not one thing you dropped. It is grease, building up a little at a time.
How grease clogs a drain
Cooking grease and oil go down the drain warm and liquid. In the pipe they cool and turn sticky, and they coat the inside of the line. Food scraps, coffee grounds and soap catch on that coating, and the opening gets smaller until the sink backs up.
What to keep out of the drain
Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel and throw it in the trash before washing them. Keep coffee grounds, rice, pasta and eggshells out of the sink, even with a garbage disposal. Hot water poured after grease only moves it a little further down the line before it sets.
Skip the drain cleaner
Chemical drain cleaners rarely clear a grease clog all the way. They can damage older pipes, and they leave a caustic sink for whoever has to open the line next.
When it keeps coming back
A sink that backs up again and again needs the line cleaned out, not just the trap. A plumber can clear the buildup along the pipe so it drains like it should.
Questions we get asked
Does running hot water with grease help?
Not for long. It keeps the grease liquid for a few feet, and then it cools and sticks further down the pipe, where it is harder to reach.Is it safe to put food down the garbage disposal?
Small soft scraps are fine. Grease, coffee grounds, rice, pasta, eggshells and stringy vegetables are the ones that cause clogs, disposal or not.Why does the dishwasher back up into the sink?
The dishwasher usually drains through the same line as the kitchen sink. When that line is clogged, the dishwasher water comes up in the sink.Plumbing questions we answer
Where we go
Parker, Wise and Tarrant County, out of the shop in Springtown. Springtown, Weatherford, Azle, Boyd, Decatur, Newark, Millsap, Fort Worth and the country in between.
Call 817-487-8866