How to Get Rid of Kitchen Sink Smells – Easy to follow Steps

We all want our kitchens to smell fresh and clean. Especially as it’s the place where we prepare all of our food, but there’s nothing more off-putting than a terrible odor coming from your drain! Do you want to know about; What are the most common kitchen sink smells? What causes kitchen sink smells? Tips on how to keep your kitchen counter smelling fresh? So don’t worry, everything will be cover in this article and you’ll be amazed at how easy it is!

In this article, we’ll explore why drain smells occur, how they can be fixed or prevented in future visits – plus some home solutions for enticing those bacteria back into line, so they don’t make their way into other areas again.

What Causes Kitchen Drain Smells

Two causes of sewer gas smell in your kitchen drain are listed below.

The drainpipe is clogged with food and debris. 

Anything you p Anything you put in your sink that isn’t water may get stuck to the edges of pipes or get stuck within the U-bend. In time, bacteria could cause the pipe to decay and give off a smell.

There’s a smell emanating from your pipes via in the drain. 

If there’s no water in your U-bend because of evaporation or leak, sewer gasses will be able to waft up to your pipe. The best solution is to look into the U-bend for leaks and obstructions. To correct the problem, you might need to remove the U-bend and then clean it.

Keeping Your Kitchen Sink Smelling Fresh

Firstly, you need to identify the cause of the smell in your kitchen sink. There are some reasons given below;

Water is not draining quickly or at all. 

Debris has clogged the pipes, creating a blockage. That’s why water is draining slowly and also turns smelly.

It smells like rotting food. 

Foods that are fried, oily, or fattening, stick to the pipes. Mostly, it will happen when your sink is not clean with hot water.

It smells like rotten eggs. 

A problem with the U bend is causing sewer gases to escape up the pipe. Because if the U-bend has no water in it, then you will experience a nasty smell.

You can fix kitchen sink smells by clearing out any blockages, using a ready-made chemical solution or homemade solution to clean the pipes, or repairing the U-bend. If you still smell sewer gasses after trying all of the methods, you may take professional assistance.

Also Read: Best Under Sink Water Filter of 2021 – Complete Buying Guide & Reviews

The Best Ways to Get Rid of Kitchen Sink Odors

Here are a few tips and hacks to get rid of kitchen sink drain odor.

You can use DIY cleaning or chemical cleaning methods to remove rotting food smells that irritate you. And for the U-bend sewer gas smell, you may go with the following instructions.

DIY drain cleaning methods – Easy Tricks

From my experience, you may quickly get rid of the rotting egg smell by following the below methods.

Boiling Water

1. Put the water in a pan or kettle
2. Bring the water to a rolling boil, then turn off the stove or switch off the kettle
3. Put that boiled water down the plughole slowly
4. Wait for 5 to 8 minutes
5. Turn on the cold tap to make sure any grease remains is congealled and flushed out.

White Vinegar

1. Put a cup of white Vinegar down to the plughole
2. Let it wait for 30 to 40 minutes
3. Fiinally, Rinse sink with hot water

Vinegar and baking soda

1. Take half a cup of baking soda and pour it down the plughole
2. Add a cup of vinegar to the plughole
3. Wait for a few hours for the solution to foam up
4. You can flush everything down the plughole by pouring boiling water down it

Chemical Cleaning Methods

There are also effective chemical cleaning methods to eliminate the bad smell in the kitchen sink.

Bio-enzyme drain cleaner

1. Bio-enzyme drain cleaner is a natural way to clean your drains without the use of harsh chemicals
2. It’s safe for septic systems and environmentally friendly
3. You can purchase this type of cleaner at many grocery stores, hardware stores, or online
4. The enzyme in the product will break down organic matter in your pipes which clogs them up and causes slow drainage
5. Read reviews before purchasing, some products are not as effective as others

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Ready-made drain cleaner

1. One of the most common household problems is clogged drains, and if you’re looking for a quick fix, drain cleaner can be your answer.
2. Drain cleaners come in many different forms like liquids to pour down the sink or pre-mixed powders that you dump into the drain and wait for it to dissolve before running water over it.
3. The most common types are caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide.
4. The easiest way to use a liquid drain cleaner is by pouring it down the overflow hole on top of the pipe that’s clogged, then waiting 15 minutes before turning on your faucet.
5. For those who prefer using powder instead of liquids, there are two ways this can be done – either by dumping one tablespoon at a time around where you think the clog is located until all of it has been used up or by pouring boiling hot water from a kettle down drains first and then adding 1/4 cup (or more) of powdered drain cleaner to make sure everything dissolves well.

Point to Remember: Tip for disposing of unused and expired products containing sodium hydroxide, which can be hazardous if ingested or touched with unprotected skin

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Check your U-bend

U-bend pipes found under kitchen sinks are also known as sewer gas traps. In order for sewer gas to escape out of the plughole, this U-bend must always be full of water.

So the wait is over, following steps can help eliminate sewage gas smell:

Is the water in the U-bend evaporating?

You may experience this if you’ve been on vacation and haven’t run any water for a while. To fix the problem, simply run some water to fill up the U-bend.

Is there any leakage in the U-bend?

Ensure that there are no drips or puddles under your sink. If you notice that there is a leak, you will call a professional plumber to fix it for you.

Is there any blockage in the U-bend?

Remove the U-bend with a wrench and blow out the blockage with a wire brush if there is still a blockage after cleaning.

Reading:Best White Kitchen Sink – Complete Buyer’s Guide and Reviews

How to Prevent Drain Odor

Little efforts will save more frustrations. So, follows these guides to avoid unwanted plumbing issues.

1. Keep a bottle of white vinegar in the kitchen to clean and deodorize drains
2. Use baking soda or salt to scrub out stubborn food particles that might be causing odor
3. Pour boiling water down your drain every few weeks to kill bacteria and remove any buildup from soap residue.
4. You must place a drainscreen over your plughole in order to prevent food particles from entering your pipes and it will help to safe you from unwanted plumbing problems.
5. You must avoid putting fat or grease down the sink. Instead, you can use a kitchen towel to absorb or scrape fat from pans before washing them.
6. Clean your garbage disposal regularly with lemon, lime, orange juice, or vinegar for fresh smelling disposals
7. Prevent clogs by using dishwasher detergent when washing dishes instead of hand-washing them because it is much thicker than regular dish soap which means you will need less product per load
8. Replace a clogged up garbage disposal with an electric one so that you can avoid having to deal with messy plumbing problems on top of everything else going wrong in the house!

Point to Remember: The most crucial step in cleaning the drain is to make sure it's scorched afterward. If you don't, mold can grow on wet surfaces, which are harmful to your health!

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When to Call a Professional Plumber

If you tried all the above methods, but the issue is not resolved, then I’d say it’s a good idea to call a professional plumber.