After spending time preparing and cooking a meal, the last thing many of us want to do is clean up afterwards, and it can be tempting to cut corners when it comes to this. Even if you do go to the effort to dispose of any leftover food by chucking it in the bin, and emptying out your kitchen filter to ensure nothing goes down the drain, bits and bobs often find their way down there.
Even if your kitchen sink is sparkling on the outside, it’s important to take care of the inside too, and improper care of drains could risk you having to spend up to £500 replacing it. There are some obvious signs your kitchen sink might be blocked, especially if water starts to drain slowly or you notice odours wafting from it. Grease is particularly notorious for causing more severe blockages in kitchen sinks, as it solidifies in drains, making it difficult for anything to pass through. While household cleaners like white vinegar work to disinfect the area after cleaning, they don’t effectively break down any grease or food waste that might have collected in the drain over time.
Staying on top of cleaning your kitchen sink is one way to ensure it doesn’t get blocked, and making it part of your weekly cleaning routine can prevent grease and food waste from becoming so stubborn that you need to get a plumber in.
In a video posted on TikTok, @theweescottycleaners revealed one product you can use that will ensure your drains are “never blocked”. Instead of making a cleaning DIY concoction, you can simply purchase this £2 item and let it do the hard work.
The home experts who share cleaning hacks on their TikTok account said, “The reason my drains never block is because I use soda crystals.”
The white, odourless cleaning agent can be used in a number of areas around the home, but is particularly effective in the kitchen as it’s biodegradable and effectively breaks down grease and removes any odours left behind.
To use it on your kitchen drain, @theweescottycleaners said: “If you do have a drain that’s blocked, sprinkle soda crystals onto the plug and run a hot tap and that dissolves all the grease, all the fat.”
You can also pre-make the cleaning mixture by adding a cup of soda crystals to a bowl of boiling water and pouring this down the drain. Soda crystals are readily available at most supermarkets, and are sold at Sainsbury’s for £2 and Waitrose for £2.75.