A blocked sink is annoying, inconvenient, smelly and totally avoidable if you follow best practice. But why do sinks get blocked?
There are a number of reasons why a sink might get blocked and understanding how this can happen should enable you to steer clear of reaching for the sink unblocker.
Don’t put fat, oil and grease down the plughole
According to the Consumer Council for Water, a classic cause of blocked sinks is a build-up of fat, oil and grease in the pipe which congeals and goes solid, and catches other debris that is being disposed of. To avoid this, wipe plates free of grease before washing them and resist the temptation to pour the fat from your roast dinner straight down the plughole.
Avoid putting food down the plughole
Don’t rinse foods down your plughole because they can build up and cause a blockage. Vegetable peelings, pasta shells, bread and butter, egg shells and coffee grounds all have the potential to get stuck in the pipe between your sink and the outside drain. Don’t think running water after them will solve the problem because adding water may simply make the items stickier and more likely to adhere to the side of the pipe.
A build-up of hair and soap
A problem in showers as well as sinks, a build-up of hair and soap pieces can lead to a solid blockage in the pipes. Long hair is especially a problem in this instance – as it comes out when people wash or treat their hair it can mesh together into a tangled mess. Pieces of soap can get caught up and bind the whole mass together. Put a sink strainer or hair catch over the plughole or sweep up all the hairs from the water before letting the plug out.
Regular maintenance
Sinks get blocked because people don’t take enough care of them. One way to prevent a build-up of debris is to regularly use a chemical pipe cleaner that will maintain your pipes in good condition. Used on a weekly basis, it will remove gunge, kill germs and eliminate odours, helping to prevent blockages.
Use Buster to unblock your sink
Should the worst come to the worst and your sink does get blocked, Buster offers a number of different products that will soon clear your pipes. Unblocking a sink is as simple as adding a single shot of our Kitchen Plughole Unblocker or a bottle of Buster’s Bathroom Plughole Unblocker and then waiting for the solution to eat through and disperse the blockage.
