How to Deodorize Your Kitchen Drains

It’s hard to use a kitchen drain and keep it odor free for very long. Odors just seem to happen, you sniff around, and then you realize the source. What exactly is causing that odor? Most likely it stems from rotting food inside your drain or garbage disposal – food that’s gotten stuck to grease or oil that should not have been poured down the drain in the first place.

What that means, therefore, is you now have two problems on your hands: a stinky drain and the gunk that caused it that’s only going to cause more unpleasant odors unless it’s gotten rid of.

How to Clear Your Drain

At Your 1 Plumber, we advise against using chemical drain cleaners, especially when there are always other options. Take, for example, using an organic drain cleaning solution to break up that pesky kitchen drain clog. Organic drain clearing solutions like Bio-Clean (available at Your 1 Plumber in powder form) not only are highly effective, they also won’t harm your pipes or the eco-system.

If you don’t have an organic drain cleaner handy and you want the problem fixed now, here’s Plan B: pour equal amounts of baking soda and distilled white vinegar (one-half to one cup of each) down your drain and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes. Then, pour a tea kettle full of boiling hot water down the drain for a nice finishing touch.

If the odor isn’t 100% gone after one application of either an organic drain cleaner or the combined efforts of baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water, the second application should be the charm. And then, goodbye clog and bad odors and back to a nice smelling kitchen.

Deodorize Your Drains

To help keep your bad drain odors at bay and have your drains smelling fresh and clean, here’s what we recommend:

• Every 2-3 weeks, pour a few drops of citrus oil down your sink drain and garbage disposal. Be careful not to overdo it, however, since citrus oils and fruit contain acid that, in high quantities, and can corrode the inside of your pipes.
• For a more naturally pleasing odor, cut up a fresh lemon or orange and grind the fruit up in your garbage disposal.
• If you don’t already have an organic drain cleaner, we urge you to get some so you can treat your drain proactively to prevent the kind of clogs that attract food particles to them, the source of future bad odors.

Here’s another home owner inevitability: a clogged drain you won’t be able to remove on your own. If and when that happens, Your 1 Plumber is here to assist you no matter how daunting the task might seem. Simply contact us to request service – you can even schedule the exact date and time of service on our website.