Dissolving fat in a drain

[MyNameIsUrl]

The outside trap that my kitchen sink discharges into was almost blocked by solid fat. I've scooped out by hand the fat on the outer side of the trap, but I can feel more fat just round the underside with my fingertips, but I can't get hold of it to get it out.

What should I be looking for to dissolve the fat - acid or alkali?

[Slarti]

Hot water with used coffee grounds in, helps a lot.

Or there are lots of products like https://www.taylormclure.co.uk/grease-b ... -200-p.asp on the market.

Slarti

[kempiejon]

If it's draining a bit I use washing soda/soda crystals and hot water, found in supermarkets cleaning isle - mostly harmless, no gas nor caustic properties, pretty cheap.

For serious problems, I use caustic soda like for solid fat and no drain rate, mix as per instructions and pour down, leave for 20/30 mins and flush with boiling water.
It is vicious stuff, keep well ventilated, gloves and goggles advised, follow instructions, it gets hot as it reacts and with the wrong mix can even explode. Buy it from hardware stores - cheaper than branded drain cleaners as good. Eco Nazi.

[Dod101]

And of course try to avoid allowing fat into the drain in the first place! Have you seen what it does to sewers?

Dod

[bungeejumper]

The outside trap that my kitchen sink discharges into was almost blocked by solid fat. I've scooped out by hand the fat on the outer side of the trap, but I can feel more fat just round the underside with my fingertips, but I can't get hold of it to get it out.

Thanks, I've just revisited my breakfast. Or was it the breakfast that revisited me?

Cheery memories of trying to clear a Buchan trap in the drain, where most of the contents are a sort of grey colour and the noxious smell goes straight through to the tightly-knotted pit of your stomach,even before your nose has had time to clock what it is. (If you don't know what a Buchan trap is, it's what the Victorians used to stop the rats from climbing all the way from the drain up into your kitchen sink.)

Agree that boiling water, plus or minus bleach, is the most obvious way to clear it once you've manually removed most of the noxious grey soup from the drain trap. (Enjoy.) But I always worry that some of the fat may have passed down the pipe, where it'll simply re-solidify as a monster fatberg and we'll have to get the London Fire Brigade out to clear it properly, and at great expense.

It's at times like this that a length of old mains twin-and-earth cable comes in handy. Bend it double, and it's stiff enough to go down the hole but still flexible enough to go round the bends. Then follow through with the soda crystals, ideally neat rather than dilute. I have a pack of the highly dangerous drainbusters fluid (or similar) lurking in the garage as a last resort, but I've never needed to use it.

Good luck!

BJ

[JMN2]

In the 1940's the infamous acid bath murderer in Crawley had the same problem - perhaps google what he tried to do and do the opposite.

[stewamax]

Yip - caustic soda's the thing. But dissolve it properly* in a bucket first and make sure that it has fully dissolved. If it hasn't, any remaining crystals clump together in the drain to form a white concrete-like lump that needs a road drill to break up. And if you get such an undissolved lump stuck in a loo, it really sticks - even to a glazed loo or bowl surface; wretched stuff.

* -add the crystals slowly to water and not the other way round; it heats up as it dissolves. Safety glasses and long gloves are a must: caustic soda is really nasty stuff.

[bionichamster]

I'd second the caustic soda (Sodium Hydroxide) suggestion/ One of the better things for unblocking drains provided you follow the instructins and do it carefully.

Hot water, caustic soda and a pokey stick (or other physical unblocking device).

BH

[DrFfybes]

Agree that boiling water, plus or minus bleach, is the most obvious way to clear it once you've manually removed most of the noxious grey soup from the drain trap. (Enjoy.) But I always worry that some of the fat may have passed down the pipe, where it'll simply re-solidify as a monster fatberg and we'll have to get the London Fire Brigade out to clear it properly, and at great expense.

BJ

Bleach will do nothing to grease or fat, and hot water will simply melt it, swill it further along, where it will set against the wall when it cools again.

Chemical cleaners will hydrolyse the fats into a chemical that is soluble in (or miscible with) water which can then be rinsed away. They break down the chemical bonds

Organic solvents will dissolve fat, but also plastic plumbing.

Enzymatic cleaners will dissolve fats, slowly, especially if it is cold.

Once the thing is totally blocked, any chemical cleaner can only attach the blockage from one end, so some sort of mechanical attack is better - either a drain snake, or a plunger (plunge gently and use the 'pull' stroke to dislodge it, being aware it will suck all the bleach out you foolishly poured down earlier!)


Chemical cleaners are acid or alkali, and will attack metal pipework. Use plastic bottles, rubber gloves, and a small plastic funnel to pour it down the drain without spilling it on the nice chrome waste surround.

Personally I favour alkaline cleaners, generally available as pellets and cheaper than acid ones. Acid ones are handy for removing paper products, alkali seems better for hair and fat, and more importantly alkali cleaners tend to have less (fewer?) fumes. Always use chemical cleaners cold, and dilute or dissolve them n cold water.

I buy Caustic Soda pellets (Sodium Hydrioxide) from Wilkos, because it is cheap and I pass the store. I use an old milk container for mixing it as there's usually one in the recycling bin, and they have a wide neck for getting the pellets in. 1/4 fill the container with water, tip in pellets to about 1/3 the depth of the water, and swirl to dissolve. The container gets hot.

DO NOT PUT THE LID ON AND SHAKE. THIS PRESSURISES THE CONTAINER AND GETS THE CORROSIVE LIQUID UP TO THE TOP, SO WHEN YOU OPEN THE LID IT SPRAYS OUT.

Do it last thing at night, leave it to soak, put the plug in (reduces fumes and reminds you to flush it properly with hot water in the morning) and rinse the container out into a different sink!

Paul

[stewamax]

Having just visited Wilko to top up my supplies of sodium hydroxide, it is now nowhere to be seen.
The nearest is branded Mr Muscle Kitchen Drain Unblocker with 250gm of sodium hydroxide for £2 ("reduced from £4"). From memory, late last year Wilko sold 500gm packs of unbranded sodium hydroxide for around £4 regular price.
The Home of Family Value ?

[jfgw]

Having just visited Wilko to top up my supplies of sodium hydroxide, it is now nowhere to be seen.
The nearest is branded Mr Muscle Kitchen Drain Unblocker with 250gm of sodium hydroxide for £2 ("reduced from £4"). From memory, late last year Wilko sold 500gm packs of unbranded sodium hydroxide for around £4 regular price.
The Home of Family Value ?

I suggest you try a proper shop, not a chain. Smaller towns often have them and they sell stuff that other shops do not, and can usually get things in for you if they don't have them.

I find that there is far greater pleasure to be had from browsing and shopping in such an establishment. It is a bit like using a chrome-plated razor with a double-edged blade (or even a cut-throat) instead of a plastic thing, or having a decent pint in a traditional pub instead of a chain of clones.

Julian F. G. W.

[kempiejon]

I used to get mine from B&Q but I see they have improved and no longer offer the basic Dial brand next I'll try The Dyas https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/homecare-e ... soda-500ml

[stewamax]

I suggest you try a proper shop, not a chain. Smaller towns often have them and they sell stuff that other shops do not, and can usually get things in for you if they don't have them.
I find that there is far greater pleasure to be had from browsing and shopping in such an establishment. It is a bit like using a chrome-plated razor with a double-edged blade (or even a cut-throat) instead of a plastic thing, or having a decent pint in a traditional pub instead of a chain of clones.

Quite so. The problem locally is that all these 'proper' shops have been steam-rollered by Wilko et al although proper pubs can still be found.
I buy everyday shoes from Clarkes but 'best' from a small specialist shoe-shop (slap bang next door to a big Tesco!) that specialises in Barkers and Loakes (fortuitously my choices for 'town' and 'country' respectively). My last pair of riding boots - which have to be bespoke to fit properly - came from a small family firm in Northampton where one had fittings by the craftsmen who made them. That whole area of Northampton has now been razed...