Clogged Kitchen Drains.

Kitchen Drains can get clogged from food debris, grease, oil, and everything else. Lets discuss some options that are Plumber approved for cleaning the drains (without damaging the pipes).

Clogged Kitchen Drains have a few different options to work through the clog. These options can also be used for your bathroom sink drains, and your shower drain. Option number one should be regularly used for drains that could contain a lot of hair. Depending on your household this could mean from once a week, to once a month.

Option One: Homeowner

For food debris, and for a quick Home owner option- the easiest way will be a Zip it. This are inexpensive (under $5 - in 2025) and quick ways to get food, hair and debris out of the drain. Though not a long term solution, they can work well as a quick fix. Especially if it is done often.

All it takes is to insert the tool into the drain and move it around until it catches on the clog. have a bag handy, and wear gloves if you are squeamish. The barbs on each side of the flexible plastic will catch the debris and pull it out. This the whole thing (tool included) goes in the trash. If your household has a lot of hair going down the drain this should be done regularly.

Option Two: Homeowner

Chemical Options may be considered at this point. Be cautious as they can ruin your plumbing, eating through your pipes. This can also be incredibly likely if the clog is so stuck that the chemical drain cleaners will sit above that that clog trying to continue to work. This will lead them to eat at the pipes, especially if they are older and already in a state of disintegrating. Be cautious if you choose this option, and definitely make sure that the drains have water passing through them so that the chemicals can also pass through.

Option Three: Plumber (Machine K-50)

Jeremiah is suggesting the K-50 machine which will unclog the pipe, which we have. This is a machine that goes down the drain and will push the grease out further down the drainage line and it gets flushed out from there. The K-50 is a long cable that gets inserted into the pipe pushing the grease through. This can work well, but as it is a cable that pushes through the grease and debris, some can be left along the sides of the pipe. This is a machine that is specifically designed for sink and bath drainage, there is a larger machine used for toilets.

The K-1500 will require the plumber to remove the toilet to put the machine through.

Option Four: Plumber (Replace)

Cut out that section of pipe and replace it. However if the blocked pipe goes into the kitchen wall and in behind cabinets that would all need to be removed. He recommends this as the last option as it is the most invasive as sections of walls and cabinet need removed. This also depends on how the plumbing is arranged on your house (as every house is different). We can also do this portion.

Option Five: Plumber (Hydroflushing)

Hydroflushing the pipes. This involves flushing the blocked grease further down the pipe. It removes more grease from the system than the K-50 as the hydroflushing removes more of the grease from around the walls of the pipe. Once again this pushes the grease out of the drain and further along the line. As this machine is more specialized again, there may be an extra cost and not every plumbing company will have the machine to do it.

Once the Drain is Unclogged

None of these will solve the problem if grease is continuing to go down the drain. They will, however, allow the drains to flow more freely for a time. The more the grease is removed, the longer the drains can flow freely until the build up happens again. 

We normally let the grease come up to room temperature and then scrape it into a Compost bag (in an effort to keep it out of the drains). Some still gets down there from washing dishes, but it helps!

If you are finding a lot of hair in the drains, then a drain catcher could also be used to prevent it from going into the drain at all. The drain catchers sit on top of the drain and collect the hair, which can then be thrown into the compost bin, or garbage.

If you have any questions at all, please let me know!

If you want to know more about how Kitchen Drains work (or why yours isn't) check out our YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXJkQU2m7T8&t=3s