I just accidently poured a pot full of cooking oil down my sink thinking it was water!!!! Is there anything I

Question

can do to save my pipes? Are they going to clog up??? Sorry, I'm freaking out!

Answer 1

You are in luck. Whenever I pour grease down my drain, I keep the hot water running and then pour some dish soap preferably Dawn or another greasecutter in the drain. Don't panic, cooking oil will NOT harden. Your pipes will be fine. Your dirty dish water will flush it out over time.

Answer 2

The best thing you can do is the combination of these 2 things:

1) take your P-trap apart (underneath the sink), and empty it out in a coffee can or some other container. Put the trap back together.

2) Go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy a gallon of ZEP 10 minute hair clog remover. Pour about a cupful down the sink and wait 10 minutes, then flush with hot water. You should be all set, hope this helps.

Answer 3

Depends on if you have septic or sewer. If you have sewer, this material is seperated at the plant. If you have septic, it ends up in your leach field. Oil floats on water, and the fluid that goes to the leach field is from the top of the tank. Wherever the oil goes in your drain line, water won't, effectively making the field smaller. This oil can never be removed, except by replacing the lines. The hot water isn't doing anything, as cooking oil doesn't congeal (like cooking grease does). The bleach is just killing off the bacteria that are keeping your septic system going. Either keep a container such as an old coffee can, or pour it into the trash (I'll use an empty coke can, tomato sauce can, etc).

Answer 4

Cooking oil that is liquid at room temperature isn't too bad. You can run into a problem if you pour a lot of melted solid fat, like crisco, bacon grease.

In the future, mix your oil with dish soap and hot H2O before pouring it down the drain. You're wise to worry about such things! I had to call a plumber this weekend because of a pipe clog that accumulated over many years.

Answer 5

Are you serious? For a second there I though you were joking!

Cooking oil cant clog your pipes! You dont even have to pour anything down the drain. Just relax and go on with your life. I always pour oil down the sink after frying fish, potatoes or whatnot. Never had a problem with clogs in kictchen in my life. Hell, how else would I get rid of the oil? Pour it down the toilet?

Answer 6

The antedote to oil is soap, so pour plenty of washing-up liquid mixed with boiling water down. I recommend you plug your sink and fill it with boiling soapy water then when its full pull the plug to give the pipes a good burst - repeat a few times to flush it all out.

Answer 7

. It's just oil, it will be fine. you don't need hot water or any thing else. If it was melted grease, then you'll just need to run some hot water. If you have any problems with water not draining, the water trap is clogged up. Just remove the water trap and clean it out, and place it back.

Answer 8

Run a lot of hot water down the pipes and then use a drain cleaner to help some more. You will be fine. don't panic

Answer 9

Don't freak out. Just run SUPER hot water down the drain for a few and you'll be fine. It's grease that would have been bad.

Answer 10

Turn your water faucent on really really hot and also boil some water. Keep pouring it down your drain for 5 minutes with some Drain-O and turn the garbage disposal on. You will be fine.