What Not to Put Down Your Drain (The Clogs We See Most)

Published September 23, 2026 · Snake-It-Away Inc.

Most of the clogs we clear did not have to happen. A handful of everyday items are behind the majority of backups in Boston-area homes, and keeping them out of your drains is the cheapest drain maintenance there is. Here is what should never go down the drain.

In the kitchen

• Grease, fats, and oil. The single biggest offender. It goes down as a warm liquid, cools, and hardens onto the pipe walls until the line closes up. Wipe pans out and pour grease into a can instead.
• Coffee grounds. They clump together and sink instead of washing away.
• Starchy and fibrous foods. Pasta, rice, potato peels, celery, and onion skins swell up or tangle into a mat.
• Eggshells. They grind into gritty bits that stick to any grease already in the line.

In the bathroom

• "Flushable" wipes. They are not flushable. They do not break down, and they are a leading cause of main-line clogs.
• Hair. Catch it with a cheap drain screen before it binds up in the trap.
• Dental floss, cotton swabs, and cotton balls. They tangle and catch on everything.
• Too much toilet paper at once.

The "it's a liquid, so it's fine" trap

Cooking grease, paint, and harsh chemical drain cleaners all go down as liquids and still cause problems. Grease hardens, and chemical cleaners can eat at older pipes without ever clearing the real blockage. When a drain is truly clogged, skip the chemicals and call.

The habit that prevents the most clogs

A cheap drain screen in every sink and tub catches the hair and food that cause most slow drains. Run hot water after the kitchen sink. And if your drains are already slowing down even though you are doing everything right, the buildup is probably deeper in the line. Here is why a drain keeps clogging even when you are careful.

When prevention isn't enough

If clogs keep coming back, the problem is usually years of buildup coating the pipe or something structural. A camera inspection shows what is really going on, and hydro jetting clears the line back to bare pipe so you are not fighting the same clog every few months.

Keep your drains clear

A few small habits save a lot of backups. When you need a hand, call Snake It Away at (781) 858-8314. Family-owned since 1997, serving homes across the Boston metro.