A clogged bathroom sink can disrupt your morning routine. A clogged kitchen sink can make preparing dinner a frustrating task. Stop those annoying plumbing problems before they happen in your Scranton home by understanding how clogs occur. The main culprits are grease, hair, and food.

Hydrophobic and Hydrophyllic

In the world of chemistry, substances that dissolve in water are hydrophyllic. Salt and sugar are the most obvious examples. Substances that don’t dissolve in water, such as grease, oil, and organic solvents, are hydrophobic. They will quickly cling to any available surface that allows them to separate from water. Grease and oil from different sources will clump together rather mix with water.

When grease and oil are poured down a sink, they coat the inside of the drain pipe. Water will not remove them. Soaps and detergents are effective cleaners because they have both hydrophobic and hydrophyllic properties. They can pull some of the grease and oil away from the walls of the drain and into the  water, but the base layer of grease stuck to the pipe will not move. Over time, the grease stuck inside the drain accumulates. Hair and food debris gets caught in the grease. Eventually, the clot becomes large enough to stop the water from moving. No matter how much water you flush down the drain, the grease clot stays put.

Hair and Food

Most people know that they are a lot of things that can cause problems with your Scranton plumbing, but its almost impossible to keep hair and other clog causing debris from going down the drain. In the kitchen, even the most careful person is going to have some food and oil make its way down the kitchen sink when washing the dishes.

The problem is that hair and food can build up in the U-shaped portion of the drain, otherwise known as the trap. If stuff starts to be snagged in the trap, other objects will catch onto this anchor, slowly forming a clot of food, hair and other debris. This clot will cause slow draining until it grows large enough to stop your sink from draining entirely.

Preventing Clogs

Most homeowners know that cooking grease should never be poured down a sink and into their Scranton plumbing. But they may not realize that many foods, even lean foods like chicken or fish, give off small amounts of grease or fat when they cook. Scraps of food ground up in the garbage disposal can release grease that clings to the walls of the drain. For any busy kitchen, it’s nearly impossible to prevent some grease or oil from making its way into the drain. To help prevent a grease build up in the kitchen sink, add some dish detergent whenever you put cooking liquid, food scraps, or plate scrapings into the sink. Follow up with lots of hot water. For bathroom sinks, when you see a hair fall into the sink, try to wipe it away with tissue before it slides down the drain.

A reliable Scranton plumber like Resolve Rooter can help you with any clogged sink; give us a call today if you need any plumbing repairs!