When you walk over to your kitchen sink to wash your hands or rinse off some dishes, are you struck with a nasty smell coming from your drains? We use our kitchen sinks every single day, so this is a very common issue in Bay Area homes. We want to help keep your kitchen smelling great, so today we’re going to talk about where kitchen sink drain smells come from and how you can get rid of them!
Where do kitchen sink drain smells come from?
The main culprit behind kitchen sink drain smells is food particles. Stop for a moment and think about all of the food scraps that get sent down your kitchen sink on a daily basis. Although it’d be great if all of those scraps were completely flushed out of your drains, that’s simply not the case.
Small food particles often stick to the insides of your pipes or the blades and walls of your garbage disposal, especially if you send grease and/or oils down your drains. In addition, if you try to send large food particles down your kitchen sink, they can create drain clogs.
When food particles are stuck in your drains, they decompose and give off an offensive odor. That odor gets even worse when bacteria begins to grow on those food particles. The more particles you have stuck in your drains, the more odors they will give off and the worse your kitchen sink drain will smell.
How can you get rid of kitchen sink drain smells?
- Thoroughly clean the drain trap. Before you even consider cleaning up the odors deep inside of your drains, take a look at your drain trap. The whole point of your drain trap is to catch large food particles before they are sent down your drain, so the trap can develop smells just by doing its job. Dispose of any large scraps that are stuck to your trap in the garbage and give the trap a quick rinse with soap and water.
- Use baking soda and vinegar. One effective home remedy for getting rid of drain smells is to use a solution of about ¼ cup baking soda and ¼ cup vinegar. When combined, baking soda and vinegar produce a deodorizing effect that can also kill bacteria. Let the solution sit in your kitchen sink drain for about 15 minutes and then flush it out with a pot of boiling hot water.
- Grind a tray of ice cubes. If you have a garbage disposal in your kitchen and you suspect that the odors might be coming from it, grind up a tray of ice cubes. The ice will break into tiny pieces that shoot against the blades and walls of your disposal and help remove particles that have clung to them.
- Grind an orange peel. Another great way to freshen up the smell of your garbage disposal is to grind up an orange peel. The citrus will give off a refreshing smell that can help counteract other nasty smells in your drains.
- Give Cabrillo a call. If you’ve tried the remedies above and your kitchen sink drain still smells, give Cabrillo a call. There might be a clog deep inside of your drains, and one of our trained professionals can open up your pipes and remove any stubborn or hard-to-reach clogs that we find.
How can you prevent kitchen sink drain smells?
The tips that we provided above can help get rid of drain smells, but they can also prevent them from developing in the first place. By performing one or more of those remedies about once per month, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of smells developing in your kitchen sink drain.
In addition, read our previous blog about preventing drain clogs. Kitchen sink clogs are often the source of bad smells, so preventing clogs will also help keep your drains smelling normal.
If you have any questions about why your kitchen sink drain smells, or if you’d like a plumbing system serviced or installed in your home, contact Cabrillo, your Bay Area plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractor.