How to Fix a Clogged Drain From Coffee Grounds

If you brew your coffee at home, you may have dealt with the difficult issue of coffee ground disposal. Knowing where to toss your unwanted grounds is part of the battle. Many opt to put coffee grounds down the toilet or purchase a dedicated coffee grounds disposal container.

But some of us tend to simply throw our coffee grounds in the sink. While this can sometimes appear to work rather well, it can actually cause some serious problems with your drain over time.

In the past, many people thought coffee grounds were perfectly safe to pour down the drain. Some even praised their effects on the drain, claiming coffee grounds helped to scrub the pipes and keep it smelling fresh, as Buster explains.

But it turns out that this isn't the case at all. If you've ever tried to clean coffee grounds out of your sink, you'll know they're surprisingly grippy and sticky. These same properties hold up inside your drainage pipes, as Wade Roberts Plumbing confirms. Over time, coffee grounds can form an impenetrable blockage in your drain.

Even garbage disposals aren't designed to deal with coffee grounds. The grounds are too fine for the mechanisms inside the disposal to properly deal with and can end up jamming the system completely. It's far better to dispose of your coffee grounds in a different way. Healthline recommends using them for compost or even garden fertilizer.

The most obvious sign your kitchen drain is blocked is a backup of water. It's important to notice that this may be a gradual process. If your kitchen sink is taking longer to drain than usual, you should act fast rather than allowing it to become more blocked and eventually stop draining at all. You may also notice other odd things about your drain, such as it releasing large air bubbles or having a greasy film over the plughole. These are all sure signs you want to unclog your kitchen drain as soon as possible.

Many search for the best drain cleaner for coffee grounds. While there are many commercial kitchen drain cleaners out there that will quickly clean out a drain clogged with coffee grounds, many people find these cleaners too harsh and potentially dangerous, particularly for use in the kitchen. Luckily, there are food-safe ways to clean out your kitchen drain, too.

You should first attempt to manually clear the drain blockage. You can use a plunger to release any pressure, then use a plumber's snake or even a wire coat hanger to force the blockage through, as recommended by American Home Shield.

After you've released the blockage, you'll likely want to fully unclog your drain of any leftover detritus. The best way to do this in a food-safe manner is by using vinegar and baking soda to cause a reaction within your drainpipe, as Den Garden recommends. First, pour a cup of baking soda into your drain. Follow it with half a cup of plain white vinegar. The mixture will immediately start foaming, so put the plug in the drain to force the mixture downward through the pipe.

Leave the baking soda and vinegar mixture to work for about an hour and then pour boiling water down the drain. Test to see if your kitchen sink is now unclogged. If it's still draining slowly, repeat the process.