If you’re trying to be a responsible person and wash the dishes, it’s extremely discouraging if the water isn’t draining properly. In addition to slowing down the washing process, a slow draining sink is a sign that something is wrong. There’s a good chance that food particles, grease, bones, or other debris is blocking your sink drain pipe, resulting in slow draining water.
If you want your kitchen sink to start working again, you’ll need to figure out what’s going on and how to fix it. This article will help you do that, so keep reading!
Why Do I Have a Slow-Draining Sink?
As we said before, there are several possible reasons why you have a slow-draining sink. Here are the most common:
Food Particles and Grease
The main reason for slow-draining sinks in the kitchen is because of food-related blockages. Whether you did it on purpose or accidentally, it’s easy for food particles, grease, fat, and other debris to go down your sink while you’re washing the dishes. This can happen with or without a garbage disposal because even disposals are not capable of handling all forms of waste.
Food waste blockages accumulate slowly over time. It can take months or years of washing food particles down the drain before they build up enough to cause a blockage. Grease, fat, and bones, on the other hand, can cause draining issues much more quickly.
Pipe Damage
It’s also possible that your sink is draining slowly because of a damaged drain pipe. This can happen for several reasons, the most common of which is internal corrosion, which is often the case with cast iron and galvanized pipes.
Aside from internal corrosion, it’s also possible for tree roots to grow into your drainage system. When this happens, however, water will drain slowly in all of your sinks and drains and not just in your kitchen sink.
Jammed Disposal
As we said before, even garbage disposals cannot handle all forms of waste. Certain things, such as grease, fat, oil, and certain food products will jam your disposal blades. When this happens, any water you drain down the disposal side of the sink will drain slowly, before eventually not draining at all.
P-Trap Issues
Finally, there’s a chance that the p-trap underneath your kitchen sink is clogged. This typically happens when food and debris get washed down the sink without passing through a disposal. This is one of the messiest, but easiest problems to fix, as you’ll soon see.
What to Do When Your Kitchen Sink Drains Slowly: A Step-by-Step Process
Now that you know the possible issues causing a slow drain in your kitchen sink, let’s look at how to fix it.
Remove Standing Water
The first thing you want to do with any jam is clear any standing water from the sink. If you have standing water, that means the partial clog in your sink has turned into a complete one. Clearing the water will help you get a better look into the drain to see if there are any visible problems. The best way to remove standing water is with a dry shop vac.
Clear Away Any Visible Debris
Once the water is clear, shine a flashlight into the blocked sink drain and check for visible blockages. If you spot any debris or foreign objects inside the drain, put some gloves on and remove it. However, if there aren’t any visible blockages, you’ll have to pursue other remedies.
Clean Out the Drain Trap
Next up, since it’s one of the easiest things to do, check the p-trap under your drain for blockages. The p-trap is designed to catch and prevent unwanted things from going down your drain. However, over time, the trap can get clogged and prevent water from draining properly.
To check the p-trap, simply unscrew the union to loosen it. Open the trap and check it for debris. Have a bucket handy, though, because there will be excess water in the trap.
Use a Plunger For Simple Clogs
If the problem doesn’t lie with the garbage disposal or the p-trap, and there isn’t visible debris to remove, your next option is to use a plunger. A toilet plunger uses a combination of pressure and suction to force blockages down your drain. Place the plunger over the kitchen drain and use it the same way you would with a clogged toilet.
Create a Homemade Drain Cleaner
If the plunger method doesn’t work, your next option is to use a homemade drain cleaner. Homemade drain cleaners are easier on your pipes, safer to work with, and very cheap and easy to throw together. Here’s what you need to do:
- Take a gallon or two of boiling water and pour it down the drain.
- Follow it up with half a cup of baking soda.
- Next, pour one cup of white vinegar down the drain and let it mix with the baking soda for one hour.
- Place a sink stopper over the drain to create an airtight seal.
- After one hour, pour another helping of boiling hot water down the drain.
If the blockage isn’t clear after this, here’s what you should do.
- Follow steps one through three above.
- However, before placing the stopper over the sink hole, add a tablespoon of table salt to the mixture.
- Follow steps four through five above.
Use a Drain Snake
If you try homemade cleaners a couple of times and you still have slow drainage in your drain pipes, your next option is to use a drain snake. Drain snakes reach deep into your drain pipes and remove blockages that are further down the line. You can purchase one at your local hardware store and watch a quick tutorial on YouTube to get started.
Try a Chemical Drain Cleaner
If you can’t figure out how to use a drain snake, you can also try a chemical drain cleaner, such as Drano. While chemical drain cleaners are highly effective, they are also potentially damaging and dangerous to work with. They include harsh chemicals that can irritate the eyes and hands, or even damage your pipes, depending on what type you have.
Therefore, it’s important to make sure you choose a drain cleaner that’s compatible with your pipes, so that you don’t make the problem worse. It’s also important to wear gloves and goggles when using a chemical drain cleaner.
Call a Plumber if the Problem Gets Worse
If you’ve tried everything and nothing seems to help your slow draining sink, it’s time to call in the pros. A professional plumber will be able to diagnose your problem and fix it using methods you aren’t capable of using. No matter the problem, a professional plumber will get to the bottom of it and have your kitchen sink working the way it should.