You’d never dump a pile of rocks down your kitchen drain. Or pour a classroom’s supply of glue down it.  But some of us put items into our kitchen drains that can have virtually the same effect as putting rocks and glue into them. 

To help you avoid committing a sink-damaging error, here are 17 things you should never put down your kitchen drain. They’re arranged them in groups that help identify their dangers.

The Clogs

You’ve heard the saying that “oil and water don’t mix,” right? Sometimes it’s used figuratively. Other times, it’s used literally. This group definitely fits in the latter category.

Each of the following items should never be put down your kitchen drain. If it happens, you can expect a clog sooner or later — and always at the most inopportune time.

• Cooking oil
• Grease
• Produce stickers
• Raw meat

The Clumps

Once introduced to the wet and confined environment of your drain, these items can grow into massive clumps the interfere with drainage and the spinning blades of a garbage disposal.

It makes sense, though: pasta, rice, and oatmeal expand when we cook them. In a pot, that’s just fine. In a kitchen pipe, it’s a recipe for harmful clumps. Grind up nuts in a blender and you have peanut butter; grind them up in a garbage disposal and you have peanut butter clumping up around your blades.

• Pasta
• Rice
• Fibrous vegetables
• Coffee grounds
• Flour
• Nuts
• Oatmeal

The Catchers

Regardless of what you may have heard, it is NOT a good idea to put eggshells down your kitchen sink. Blame the thin membrane within the shell. That membrane, just like the potato peels and onion skins listed here, creates a perfect “net” that will help gather up other foodstuffs and create a blockage.

• Eggshells
• Potato peels
• Onion skins

The Clangers

Your garbage disposal is probably pretty strong. But any chicken bones, fruit pits (from peaches, for example), and shells from crabs and other sea creatures probably are stronger. Just as you wouldn’t pour pebbles into your kitchen sink, avoid the following clangers.

• Bones
• Pits
• Shells

Think Before You Sink

The better you treat your plumbing, the nicer it will be to you. Be careful with the items you expect your kitchen sink and garbage disposal to handle and you’ll both enjoy a wonderful, long-term relationship

For more stories like this, Get Estate Life Magazine for free