8 Things You Should Not Put Down Your Household Sink

Quick answer: Fats and cooking oil, coffee grounds, eggshells, pasta and rice, fibrous vegetable scraps, paint, and harsh chemicals should never go down your household sink. These items are among the leading causes of blocked drains, and if you're dealing with one already, it's time to call a trusted blocked drain plumber Melbourne homeowners rely on before it turns into a bigger problem.

Let's break down exactly what shouldn't go down your sink, why it causes problems, and what to do instead.

1. Fats, Oils, and Grease

This is the number one offender. Cooking fat and oil might look liquid when hot, but as it cools inside your pipes, it solidifies and sticks to the pipe walls creating the perfect trap for everything else that goes down after it.

2. Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds don't dissolve in water. Instead, they clump together and settle in your pipes, gradually building into a dense, sludge-like blockage, especially when combined with grease.

3. Eggshells

Eggshells break into small, gritty fragments that can stick to grease inside your pipes rather than washing straight through, contributing to blockages over time.

4. Pasta, Rice, and Starchy Foods

These continue to expand even after they leave your plate, especially when they come into contact with water sitting in your pipes which is exactly what happens inside your drain.

5. Fibrous Vegetable Scraps

Things like celery, corn husks, onion skins, and potato peels are notorious for tangling around garbage disposal blades and pipe bends, creating stubborn clogs that are difficult to clear.

6. Flour and Baking Ingredients

Flour mixed with water forms a paste, not something you want coating the inside of your plumbing.

7. Paint, Solvents, and Chemicals

Beyond the environmental harm, these substances can damage pipe linings and, in some cases, react with other materials in your plumbing system. They should always be disposed of through appropriate waste facilities, not your sink.

8. Medications

Flushing or rinsing medication down the sink can contaminate water systems and isn't a safe disposal method. Most pharmacies offer take-back programs instead.

Actionable Tips to Protect Your Drains

• Let fat cool and solidify, then scrape it into the bin rather than pouring it down the sink.
• Use a sink strainer to catch food scraps before they enter the drain.
• Compost where possible instead of washing vegetable scraps down the sink.
• Run hot water after washing dishes to help clear any residual grease from pipes (though this isn't a substitute for avoiding grease in the first place).
• Dispose of chemicals and paint properly through your local council's hazardous waste collection.
• Schedule regular drain checks, particularly for older homes or busy commercial kitchens, to catch build-up before it becomes a full blockage.

And because blocked drains have a habit of striking at the worst possible time, it's worth knowing who to call for an after-hours plumber for your emergency plumbing job.

Contact My Plumbing Services NOW for your a quote

A few small changes to what goes down your sink can save you from a seriously inconvenient (and costly) blocked drain down the track. But if the damage is already done, don't wait for it to get worse.

Get in touch with our local plumber in Melbourne for a fast, reliable fix for all your plumbing needs.