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  3. 10 Things You Should Never Put Down the Drain

10 Things You Should Never Put Down the Drain

By Food & Wine Updated March 11, 2019
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pills
Credit: © Jana Eriksson / EyeEm / Getty Images
While a town in Mississippi deals with a massive cookie dough clog problem resulting from a local bakery washing its equipment off, it feels like an opportune moment to remind ourselves just what should and should not go down the drain. Whether you have a garbage disposal or not, there are certain substances that should be properly disposed of instead of washed away. If you’re not a fan of stopped up pipes or costly plumber bills, take a moment to refresh yourself on these troublesome clog culprits and water polluters.Click through below to learn why they're such a problem for pipes.
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Cooking Oil

oil
Credit: © Will Heap / Getty Images

Oils are a major contributor to clogs and mix with other debris to create sludge (ew!). This also includes mayonnaise and salad dressings.

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10 Things You Should Never Put Down the Drain

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Butter and Margarine

butter
Credit: © Joy Skipper / Getty Images

Especially when melted, butter and margarine can congeal and build up over time creating water resistant barriers.

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Grease and Other Fats

fat
Credit: © Zachary Zirlin / EyeEm / Getty Images

Like oils, leftover fats or grease from cooking bacon or other meats can congeal, blocking drains and allowing other debris to cling onto the inside of pipes.

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Egg Shells

eggs
Credit: ©Â Tali Aiona / EyeEm / Getty Images

The shells are hard on disposal blades and the membranes can wrap around the grinding apparatus. Once ground, the tiny bits of shell can compound other blockages. Better to compost than toss out.

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Coffee Grounds

coffee
Credit: © Sergei Chumakov / photonyx.net / Getty Images

Since they’re not completely water soluble, when grounds mix with oil or grease already coating the pipes, you’ve got a real mess on your hands. Grounds should best be disposed of in the trash or, better yet, composted.

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Pasta

pasta
Credit: © Katie Cawood / Getty Images

Noodles will continue to expand with more exposure to water each time you run the faucet and the sticky semolina flour can gum up the pipes or fill the disposal trap.

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Rice

rice
Credit: © Banar Fil Ardhi / EyeEm / Getty Images

Rice grains can easily slip down the drain, but once there will absorb more water and swell.

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Flour

flour
Credit: © Tetra Images / Getty Images

Flour + water = basically glue. You get the picture.

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Produce Stickers

stickers
Credit: © Thanatham Piriyakarnjanakul / EyeEm / Getty Images

They fall off easily in the sink while washing, but the plastic and adhesive stickers are rarely water soluble and can block screens and filters in treatment plants down the line.

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Medication

pills
Credit: © Jana Eriksson / EyeEm / Getty Images

While there’s no real danger to your drain or pipes per se, the addition of pharmaceuticals into the water is no good for humans or animals. There are programs that let you dispose of unused medicine properly and safely, otherwise they’re best to go into the trash, sealed.

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    1 of 11 Cooking Oil
    2 of 11 10 Things You Should Never Put Down the Drain
    3 of 11 Butter and Margarine
    4 of 11 Grease and Other Fats
    5 of 11 Egg Shells
    6 of 11 Coffee Grounds
    7 of 11 Pasta
    8 of 11 Rice
    9 of 11 Flour
    10 of 11 Produce Stickers
    11 of 11 Medication

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