APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – Plumbers are typically quite busy the day after Thanksgiving, dealing with clogged sinks due to things that should never have gone down the drain the day before.
It’s becoming known as ‘Brown Friday’ – a day where plumbers are probably making as much as you’re saving while Black Friday shopping.
“Taking that turkey and shoving it down the garbage disposal – the cuttings of it, the grease, the fat, and all of that stuff – it just creates a mega-issue in the drain system,” said Fox Valley Technical College Plumbing Instructor, Greg Van Lanen. “Don’t put it down the sink. Just try to avoid that because the system just can’t handle it. You’re just going to create an issue that you really don’t want to deal with at that point.”
Van Lanen says the industry knows most days following holidays with large gatherings and meals at home as days they’ll need to be on-call.
“The days after that, you run into drain blockages in kitchen sinks, main drain blockages just from having a lot of people in the home using toilets and cleaning dishes. It just clogs up the kitchen sinks and main sewers,” Van Lanen said.
Between heavy use of the garbage disposals and toilets, he says to avoid flushing what you can.
“The big stuff I’ll put in a plastic bag, like a lot of the food, and just tie it off. I’ve even heard of people freezing it before throwing it in the garbage can so it doesn’t stink so bad,” Van Lanen told WTAQ News. “If you do decide to throw more than you should down [the garbage disposal], make sure you run a lot, a lot of water behind it. Even more than you think you should.”
If your garbage disposal stinks in the days following a feast, Van Lanen recommends filling the sink with ice, running water, and then turning the disposal on. That helps break up the food particles inside the drains that are causing the stench.
