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Tips On How to Clean a Smelly Kitchen Sink

We work our kitchen sink drains hard every single day. Even when diligently using a sink strainer or garbage disposal, food particles, grease, and other unlovely things are bound to make their way into the drain. Then we wake up one day to a foul smell coming out of the sink. The good news is, cleaning up that smelly kitchen sink is pretty easy.  Here are some quick tips:

Boiling Water & Dish Soap: 
Put a stopper in the sink and fill it with several inches of boiling water, and add a squirt of dish soap. Turn on the disposal immediately after unplugging the sink to let the water flush through. This is different than simply running the tap like we usually do since the disposal will actually fill with water. This may be enough to take care of milder drain smells. 

Baking Soda & Vinegar:  
Keep the ratio one-part baking soda to two parts vinegar so try 1 cup baking soda plus 2 cups vinegar. Pour the baking soda, then vinegar on top; it will bubble up. Let it sit a couple of minutes, then follow it up with boiling water. The hotter the water, the more bacteria it kills. Using combinations of baking soda, boiling water, and vinegar can be used on sinks with or without garbage disposals. 

Salt and Ice:
This trick will only work if you have a garbage disposal.  Put ice and coarse salt down the disposal and turn it on.  The ice cubes will knock off any food particles from the blades while the salt will clean. For an extra step, toss in some lemon peels with the disposal on. What smells more fresh and clean than lemons?  The wonderful clean scent of lemon will float around your kitchen. The best part about these methods is that you probably don’t have to buy anything.  All of these use materials you most likely already have in your kitchen.  Once you’ve got the smell under control, keep it that way by periodically sprinkling baking soda down the drain to absorb odors. 

Looking For a Disposal Short Cut? 
If you are looking for something super easy, we’ve got just the solution for you. PLINK!! Plink balls clean and deodorize kitchen sink disposals with a fresh lemon scent. Simply drop one in your sink to help break up built-up fat and food particles in disposal. It’s biodegradable so it won’t harm plumbing, and it’s made in the USA. We have these available for sale in our Parts Department for under $4. If after all of these tricks the smell is still lingering, check with a plumber to make sure everything is operating correctly with your kitchen plumbing.