8 things you should never pour down the drain

When you are working through a sink full of dirty dishes for the third or fourth time in a day, it is understandably tempting to scrape plates and everything else into the kitchen sink. After all, the sink is exactly there. While your sink may be temptingly practical, if you want it to last a lifetime—or at least not have a plumber on speed dial—you should include drains for soap, water, and small food scraps.

Some things should never be flushed down the drain, and if you’re not sure, it’s better to be safe than sorry with a big plumbing bill. “It’s better to be safe than sorry and throw the stuff in the trash,” says Jeff Palla, president of Mr. Handyman, a Neighborly company.

To find out which items are off-limits, we asked some experts to find out which other items definitely don’t belong in the kitchen sink.

Oil and fat

“When you wash dishes, some grease always goes down the drain. When it solidifies, it sticks to the pipe walls,” says Mike Wilson of Mike Wilson Plumbing in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Instead, to safely dispose of grease, he recommends “using some old plastic containers, pouring the grease into them and throwing it in the trash.”

Coffee grounds

Since it’s hard to avoid grease going down the drain (especially as a Southern cook), it gums up the pipes, which can make coffee grounds a real problem. “Coffee grounds stick to the grease and eventually clog the drain,” says Wilson.

Pasta and rice

Wilson also warns against pouring things like pasta down the drain. “Pasta, even if ground up, will stick to the grease and eventually clog the drain,” he says. For similar reasons, Bill McEwen of Nuckols Plumbing in Richmond, Virginia, warns against pouring rice down the pipes, as it could cause clogs.

Fibrous vegetables

“Stringy vegetables like celery get stuck in the sieve,” says McEwen. Other vegetable no-gos are onion skins and artichokes

Eggshells

Although opinions vary, McEwen recommends not pouring it down the drain too quickly to avoid possible blockages.

Vegetable bowls

“All peelings, especially potato peels, go straight into the trash,” says Wilson.

Drano

Although this contradicts what the packaging suggests, McEwen makes a compelling argument. “No plumber wants to go to someone’s home and work on a drain that’s full of (Drano) acid,” he says. “It’s dangerous and the customer incurs additional costs if it’s been used. Plus, Drano rarely works!”

Non-food items

“Never throw items that are not fit for consumption, such as plastic, metal or glass, down the drain,” says Palla. Wilson adds that even items advertised as “flushable” should not be thrown down the pipes. He cites old paint and so-called flushable cat litter as two of the main causes of clogged drains.