By Marcus Lim
The last thing we all want to do after a meal is wash the dishes. Most of us are guilty of being too lazy to properly dispose of all small food scraps and find ourselves shoving them down the drain.
But how much damage can this really do? A lot more than you think. Here’s a list of what you should never put down your sink, and reasons why they can be damaging to you, your sink and the environment.
1. Fat, Grease and Oil. It may be gooey and soft when hot, but as soon as grease cools down you’re left with a thick mess blocking your pipes. Let it cool down in the pan, wipe it up with a paper towel and throw it where it belongs – in the bin.
2. Orange Peels. Urban Myth: putting orange peels down your drain will make it smell fresh. This is untrue. Why not dispose of them in the compost bin? It’ll save you a headache and you’ll get brownie points from Mother Nature for being environmentally friendly.
3. Coffee Grinds. Urban Myth #2: coffee grinds can clear your pipes. Fact: coffee grinds mixed with the oil in the pipes is a sure-fire drain destroyer.
4. Eggshells. Even the smallest pieces of eggshell can create a mighty mess – they can get stuck on oil and create a build up in your drains.
5. Tea Leaves. Tea may be good for us, but not so much for the drain. If you use loose leaf tea, make sure that as few leaves as possible make it down the drain. They can build up and create a large problem.
6. Semolina. Most pastas are made with semolina, which can become very sticky when wet and can create a hefty blockage if found in your pipes. When draining pasta in your sink, make sure nothing but water makes it down the drain.
7. Metamucil and other medication. Expired liquid medicine is not always best down the drain. Metamucil for example, can turn into hard jelly and will be a nightmare to get rid of. Instead, read the manufacturers guide to disposal and save yourself an unwell drain.
8. Potato peels. Potato peels can become very sticky in water. Avoid this by placing them in the compost bin, along with the orange peels.
9. Jelly. Anything with gelatine in it is a no-go for your drain. There are two options – your stomach or the bin.
10. Rice. Although grains of rice can be hard to keep track of, they can become a sludgy mess if they are backed up in your drain. Try your hardest to avoid any of these trouble makers making their way down your sink.
– Marcus Lim is the founder and CEO of local services marketplace Oneflare, connecting Australians with 50,000 businesses across Australia.
3 replies on “10 things you should never put down your sink”
Coffee grounds do no clog drains. My father was a plumber. I have dumped or seen coffee grounds dumped in drains for 55 years and never seen one clogged with coffee grounds. I also know several restaurant owners who dump pounds of coffee grounds down the drain daily. No clogs.
I’m late to the party, but I will say when I was first married we started out in a 21 foot camper that my FIL owned. The problem we discovered was when one pipe clogs, the entire kit and caboodle backs up…YES…EVERYthing! It wasn’t pretty. So my husband called his dad, and after checking out the pipes, he asked me, “Did you put coffee in the drain?”. I boldly and flat-out told him “No way! You don’t do that!”. He had to have known I was lying. Nobody else used our camper (sorry, Dad! I love you!). Now, maybe what you are saying is true. But for small pipes like you would have in a camper, it’s best to stick with the garbage can or compost when it comes to coffee grounds. And for what it’s worth, we live in a nice home now, but I wouldn’t trade out onset of marriage for the world. It keeps us grounded and appreciative of what we have.