How to dissolve fat deposits in sewer pipes

There is a sewerage system in every residential building, be it a multi-apartment high-rise or a private house. Over time, sewer pipes become clogged, forcing homeowners to take urgent steps to clean them up. How to cope with this "misfortune" on your own, we will tell in the article.

Why does it happen that deposits accumulate?

Every day, different types of waste enter the sewer system: grease, chemicals, food debris, and hair or wool. Many people pour fatty broth or oil into the kitchen sink, and some manage to pour leftover food into the toilet, thinking that since the drain hole is there, then blockages can be avoided. This opinion is wrong. After all, the accumulation of all these and other deposits on the inner walls of the pipes negatively affects the throughput of the latter. In addition, if any standards were violated during the installation of the pipes, then the remnants of food and fat, instead of being washed away by the water pressure, settle on the pipes. All this leads to their complete clogging.

What to do with fat in pipes and how to dissolve it

To independently restore the operability of the drainage system and get rid of fatty deposits, you can use:

• improvised means;
• household chemicals;
• mechanical cleaning.

Improvised means

As a rule, small blockages can be eliminated on their own without resorting to expensive purchased products. After all, all components can be easily found in every home.

Soda

Baking soda can help deal with mini blockages in your drain. To do this, it is enough to pour soda into the drain hole and fill it with hot water. After a few hours, it is necessary to check whether the water passes through. If the fat deposits have not yet been "acidified", then this method can be improved by adding vinegar.

Soda and acetic acid

In order to use this method, you need to take some baking soda and food vinegar. Pour baking soda into the drain and fill it with a small amount of vinegar.

As practice shows, this method eliminates most blockages. The fact is that by reacting with vinegar, soda dissolves the formed fat "plug".

The only point that must be taken into account is that this method cannot be used for metal pipes, as they can oxidize, which will lead to their corrosion.

Chlorine

Another "popular" method that has proven itself in the fight against blockages is to use a liquid with a high chlorine content, such as whiteness. It must be poured into the sink, wait a little, and then rinse with water. A lot of this remedy may be needed to dissolve deposits. It is also necessary to take into account that whiteness is quite aggressive, therefore it is necessary to work with it carefully.

Household chemicals

If all of the above improvised substances still did not cope with the task, then it is time to move on to more professional means. Using household chemicals is the easiest and fastest way to clean the drain. On the market, you can buy liquid, tablets or special powder to fight body fat.

Mechanical cleaning

Sometimes blockages are so dense and hard that various grease solvents cannot cope with them. In this case, you can use a plunger. This device works in a very simple way. We close the drain hole with a plunger and begin to create pressure in the pipe with forward movements.The fat plug is pushed through the pipe by pressure and into the drain.

In addition to the plunger, another popular mechanical tool is the plumbing cable.

It is a 10-meter long steel product with a brush at one end and a handle at the other. It is also quite simple to use. The rope is gradually dipped into the pipe until it hits the grease plug. At this point, they begin to twist the handle of the cable so that the brush begins to clean the blockage. After the cleaning procedure, you need to spill the pipe with hot water to rinse off the remains.

How to avoid future problems

As you know, the problem is easier to prevent than to correct the consequences later. Since problems with sewerage are not only "standing" water in the sink or unscheduled repairs in your own bathroom, but also the danger of flooding your neighbors. In addition, an unpleasant odor will constantly emanate from the drain hole, as pathogenic microorganisms actively begin to multiply in such a favorable environment. Therefore, it is best to carry out preventive cleaning of pipes at least once every two or three months.

To do this, you can use the same soda or buy any means for cleaning sewer systems in a store. You can also periodically spill the pipes with boiling water to prevent the appearance of a greasy film.