Can sour cream and ketchup plug a kitchen sink?

Try baking soda, vinegar and boiling water.

Get under the sink and disconnect the drain pipes, P-trap, that connect to the pipe coming out of the wall. Clean out this pipe, and the others you removed, reinstall the parts removed.
But do try the boiling water. Not hot tap water, BOILING water. A whole big pan of it.
And do keep congealing materials and food stuff material out of the drain. And if you do get anything questionable down the drain, follow it with LOTS of water.

@kritiper My lease states that I am not alowed to make repairs. My maintenance manager will be here tomorrow to remove the a.c. I will ask him then. I would really know if it was my fault for pouring a little bit of sour cream and ketchup down the drain.

You’re not making a repair. You are performing maintenance. You can always get a short drain snake and run it down the drain, too.

Clearing a clog is really easy. You can try to physically remove it with a plunger or the build up of CO2 with the vinegar and baking soda or you can remove it chemically.

Try the baking soda and vinegar trick but make sure you block any overflow hole the sink might have, or the pressure from the CO2 will just escape out that way. The pressure should push the muck down and out. I have to use Sodium Hydroxide in my bath/shower configuration because of how it is built, but that’s very easy as well, but you must use caution as it is highly caustic. I stand in the tub with rubber boots on as I carefully pour the chemical down the drain, but I’m used to dealing with chemicals. You should be capable of using an over the counter drain cleaner from the supermarket and following the instructions on the back. I wouldn’t go taking pipes apart. Tools and leaks needing plumbers tape or horse hair…. it becomes a whole big job.

Try the vinegar and baking soda. Block the overflow drain. Let the CO2 press the plug out. If that fails, get a bottle of ‘Draino’ or what ever the local brand is at the grocery store and follow the directions on the bottle.

Never never never stick food or fat or coffee grounds down the sink. If you don’t have an easy way to throw it in your garbage, flushing it is a better option. Collect fat in an old tin with a lid. When it’s full, throw it in the garbage. If you can wait for the fat to harden in the pan, wipe it with paper towels and throw it in the garbage. If you need to clean out your fridge, lay out several layers of newspaper on the counter. Dump the horrible contents of your left over containers onto the newspaper and wrap it up and throw it in the garbage outside.

I believe the others fail to appreciate that fiddling with the pipes may be beyond your expertise, but the boiling water, soda and vinegar idea is top notch and well worth the effort. If you have a plunger, begin by placing it within easy reach of the sink. Evacuate as much standing water as possible from the sink and drain, then place a medium sized pot of water on the stove to boil. While the water heats up, place about a cup of baking soda in a glass or cup , and a cup of vinegar in a separate glass or cup. Place them on the counter within easy reach of the sink. If you have one of those big kitchen mitts handy, place it on the counter as well. No mitt? Don a shirt with sleeves and have a pot holder at the ready. When the water is boiling turn off the burner, and place it on the counter.

Okay. Plunger, soda, vinegar, mitt or pot holder, pot of very hot water. You want to keep your face and skin from being directly over the drain during this adventure.

Dump the soda into the drain followed by the vinegar. Put on the mitt or grab the pot holder and pick up the pot. Pour the hot water in the drain, and whie the mess iis bubbling, plunge the drain several strokes.

If the procedure clears your drain, you want to run hot tap water down the drain for a couple of minutes, and you should always run hot water down your sink following anything greasy or capable of congealing in the sink.

Sour cream & ketchup should NOT clog your drain…it’s probably years of buildup from other things!!! IF you pour much cola down your drain, it tends to cling to anything that follows slowly clogging up the pipes. About once every 6 months to a year, I put 3 tablespoons of baking soda down the drain hole. Then I pour a little bit of vinegar behind the baking soda until it stops foaming up. I let that sit for around 10–15 minutes & then pour a large pan of boiling water behind it. The baking soda & vinegar helps to clear the buildup from whatever you’ve put down the pipes & the hot water will help to break up the clog. I’ve never had a full fledged clog since I’ve started using the baking soda & vinegar; but, I imagine that you might also need to use a plunger along with the hot water IF your clog is that bad. IF you have a double sink, you’ll need to close up the second one by putting a towel over the drain hole before you plunge. IF it doesn’t work, the worst that will happen is that you’ll be at the mercy of your maintenance guy. Here, the box of baking soda only cost $1.00 & a gallon of vinegar is $3.00. You don’t use it all & will still have some for the next time. I’d spend the $4.00 to try it myself before paying somebody $100.00 to try & fix it!!! Even IF you do have to pay to have this clog cleaned out this time, be sure to use the baking soda & vinegar every 3–6 months after the clog is cleared to help STOP any future clogs!!!

As I said, I’ve NOT had a clog since I began using the baking soda & vinegar & I just automatically use it maybe once or twice a year or anytime I see the water draining a little slow.

IF you’ll pour your grease in a zip lock bag then put it in the freezer, you can just toss the bag of grease in with your trash every week or two so you’re not storing unusable grease in your freezer. Anything else I don’t want going down my drain also goes into a zip lock bag for disposal with my regular trash.

You can get a cheap plastic drain snake at most dollar stores. That’s not beyond your capability by any stretch. I doubt it’s your fault though. I bet your drain just needs a heavy duty opener run through it and not just draino.

No, ketchup and sour cream can not plug the sink.
If Draino fixed it last time, go by some Draino. Or use bleach, if you have some.
Are other residents having plumbing problems?

Draino isn’t good for the pipes & will eventually eat through them.

We use liquid plumr here. Yes that’s how you spell it. No e.

My plumber told me to STOP using the Plumr because it was worse than Draino at eating through the pipes which will cost a LOT more than $100 to repair/replace. Actually, it was my plumber who suggested the baking soda & vinegar!!! After using the baling soda & vinegar, I told him that he was putting himself out of work. He says a happy customer is the BEST form of advertising that he could ever have!!!

Well, then get some liquid plumr. Or just use bleach.
Or the baking soda and vinegar sound good. Vinegar is a mild acid and I can see it reacting with the baking soda to work.

Let us know.

When the vinegar hits the baking soda, it’s almost like a volcanic eruption!!! Works great in the bathroom sink also to get rid of some of the soap scum that inevitably builds up. A couple with 8 kids lived here before me so the neighbors assumed that I was having an affair with my plumber when I first moved in. There were a lot of challenges with the plumbing to say the least!!!

@RedDeerGuy1 I guess you’ve tried the plunger? But there is a way of doing that too, something about being very fast in pushing it in. Maybe someone has already suggested it? I haven’t read most of the answers.

@flo My building management has ordered a plumber. He/she will take care of it. I can afford the $50 – $100.

Ok.

Update: Cost $147 Canadian. He even fixed my toilet seat.

Wow! Imagine how many drain snakes could have been bought with $147.00!
And you would still have one the next time a drain plugged up!
How long/How many days did you have to wait until the plumber showed up?
(I budget myself $150.00 for gas and groceries for two weeks. TWO WEEKS!)

I do not understand why you have to pay for the plumber when you don’t own the building.
And what was wrong with your toilet seat that you couldn’t just go out an get another?

@Dutchess_III I was at fault. The bolt on the toilet seat came off. Was fixed for free.

Sour cream and ketchup go down much better in the toilet.