Why Your Kitchen Sink Keeps Backing Up (and What to Do About It)

What keeps clogging your kitchen sink?

• Grease and cooking oil that pour in warm, then cool and harden inside the pipe
• Food scraps, coffee grounds, and starchy or fibrous bits that catch and pile up
• Soap scum that clings to pipe walls and narrows the drain over time
• Old or improperly installed pipes, common in Cerritos homes built decades ago, that clog more easily
• Tree roots that invade the line underground and snag everything flowing past

The DIY fixes worth trying first

• Boiling water: pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain in 2 to 3 rounds to melt and flush a softer grease clog
• Baking soda and vinegar: add about a half cup of baking soda, then a cup of white vinegar, let it fizz for 15 to 30 minutes, and flush with hot water
• A cup plunger: use a flat cup plunger, not a toilet or flange plunger, with a few inches of water in the sink, and plunge firmly to build suction
• Clean the P-trap: set a bucket underneath, unscrew the curved trap below the sink, and clear out the food and grease that collect there

Why should you skip chemical drain cleaners?

It's tempting to reach for a bottle of drain cleaner, but it's usually the wrong move. Chemical cleaners rarely dissolve a real grease clog all the way, and the caustic liquid can sit in your pipes, corrode older metal, and even damage your P-trap. They also make life harder, and riskier, for a plumber if the clog doesn't clear. Stick with the mechanical fixes above and skip the chemicals.

When should you call a plumber?

If the same clog keeps coming back, more than one drain is running slow, or you hear gurgling and smell odors from the sink, the blockage is deeper than DIY can reach. Those are signs the buildup is well down the line, and it needs professional equipment. There's no shame in calling, catching it now keeps a minor clog from becoming a messy backup.

How do the pros clear a stubborn clog?

When a clog is beyond a plunger, plumbers have two go-to tools. Hydro jetting blasts the pipe walls with high-pressure water to scour away years of grease, scale, and debris, not just poke a hole through it. A camera inspection sends a small camera down the line to find exactly what's causing repeat clogs, whether it's a grease belly, a bad pipe, or roots. If your Cerritos sink keeps backing up no matter what you try, System Wide Services can clear it for good, call 562-269-4747.

Kitchen sink FAQ

• Is it safe to run boiling water down the drain? Yes for metal and most modern pipes; if you have older or thin PVC, use very hot tap water instead of a full boil.
• Can I put grease down the drain if I run hot water after? No, it still cools and hardens further down the line. Pour cooled grease into a container and throw it away.
• Why does my sink gurgle after it drains? Gurgling usually means air is trapped behind a partial clog or a venting issue, a sign to have the line checked.
• Will a garbage disposal prevent clogs? It helps with small scraps, but it doesn't stop grease or fibrous foods from building up, so the same rules apply.