Why does everyone recommend that boiling water trick for drain clogs

My neighbor told me to pour boiling water down my kitchen sink to fix a grease clog, said it was a total no-brainer. Turns out boiling water just moved the grease further down the pipe where it hardened into a bigger block that cost me $150 for a plumber. Has anyone else had this backfire or am I the only one who fell for that?

3 comments

3 Comments

mason_foster6812d ago

Fell for this exact thing. My wife kept telling me to try it and I figured hey, everyone online says it works. What they don't tell you is how old your pipes are or what kind of gunk is actually in there. It's like the whole "just restart your router" fix for internet problems - works great until it doesn't and you realize you've been making things worse by not talking to someone who actually knows what they're doing.

paulw6312d ago

Poured a half bottle of that drain cleaner down my sink last year and ended up with a puddle of murky water on the kitchen floor. Turned out the pipe had a slow leak already and the chemicals just ate right through the old sealant. Had to call a plumber anyway and he said I should've just used a snake or pulled the trap apart myself. Ended up costing like $300 for something I could've fixed for free if I'd just looked under the sink first.

jennifer_mitchell5312d ago

Yeah that boiling water trick is garbage for anything more than a minor backup. You basically just melted the grease and pushed it deeper like you said. If you ever get a slow drain again, skip the water and go straight for a plastic drain snake from the hardware store for like five bucks. Pull the trap off under the sink first and clean that out, that's where most clogs actually sit. Those chemical drain cleaners are even worse, they'll eat through old pipes or cheap seals and leave you with a bigger mess. Plumber told me once that boiling water is really only safe for metal pipes and even then it's a crapshoot. Honestly half the time taking the pipes apart is easier than people think, just watch a quick video on it.