What Not to Throw Down Your Drains

Your drains are a vital part of an important system in your house. Unlike other systems, like your air conditioner, for example, it can be easy to unwittingly adopt an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude when it comes to your home's plumbing. Once you dump liquids down your drains, you often don't ever have to think about them again -- or so the thinking goes.

Never Dump These Substances Down Your Drain

If your kitchen sink is draining slowly, it could be because of something that you've put down it. Even though it might seem like a catch-all for everything in the kitchen, it's important to keep certain substances out of it. These include the following:

Fog

FOG is actually comprised of three substances that are the most common culprit for a kitchen sink drain that's clogged: Fats, Oils and Grease. Contrary to what many people think, the effects of a home's backed-up plumbing system can cause hazards that extend far beyond that particular house, according to the Water Environment Federation. These substances can not only make it difficult to unclog the kitchen sink drain, they can damage the inside of a home and be hazardous to the environment.

Food

Food of all sorts should be kept from being washed down the kitchen drain. Even something as tiny as coffee grinds or eggshells can build up over time -- unseen by the homeowner -- and result in a clogged kitchen sink drain. Take care to scrape uneaten food off of dishes before transferring them to the sink to be washed or rinsed. Keep the drain cover clean and in place so that food doesn't accidentally wind up in the pipes.

Medications

Disposing of out-of-date medications can be challenging, but the kitchen drain is no place for them. Depending on their formulations, dumping old medicines down the drain could cause them to start dissolving before winding up in a gummy mess or they could float around until they get stuck in the pipes.

A better idea for getting rid of medications that are outdated or no longer needed is to mix them with used cat litter. If a homeowner doesn't have a cat, try mixing them up with wet coffee grounds. In either case, after the medications are mixed with either of these substances, they should be disposed of in the trash can -- not down the kitchen drains!

Flushable cat litter

Even though the cat litter might be labeled as being "flushable,"it should never be put down the drains. Not only could it settle in the bottom of the pipes and make the home have a smelly kitchen drain, but it can also cause problems with the septic system and the septic tank should it be swept out that far. Instead, remove the used cat litter from the litter box and place it in a trash bag. Knot the bag at the top to contain the mess and then dispose of it in the regular household trash or in an outside trash can.

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