Kitchen drains usually clog from grease and food scraps that congeal inside the pipe and trap more debris over time. Bathroom drains are more often blocked by hair, soap scum, and toothpaste residue. Either way, once enough builds up, water starts backing up instead of draining freely.
Step one: boiling water
Regular hot tap water, usually only around 60–70°C, isn’t hot enough to melt through grease. Boil a full pot of water and pour it down the drain slowly, in stages, giving it a minute or two between pours to work on the blockage. This alone sometimes clears mild clogs.
