Fat

"It's fat," the man from the council tells me.

I finally got around to getting someone in to clear a blocked drain this morning. I'd been leaving it until the freeze was over, just in case it was a great piece of ice that was causing the problem. No harm in hoping. But we were getting to the stage that the sink was emptying very very slowly.

He then went on to tell me he didn't mean to say I'd been pouring all manner of fat down the sink. I do try to avoid that as much as possible although inevitably a certain amount goes down eg fatty deposits in frying pans, roasting pans etc. No, it seems the real culprit is washing up liquid, dish-washing machine detergents, washing machine detergents, soap. They all coat the pipes as they pass through. This coating just builds up after a while, eventually blocking the hole in the middle. The only thing he could suggest may help avoid such a build-up is to pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain every once in a while. Even so, it will block eventually. It's just as well our local council turns out promptly (they were here within the hour) & is reasonably priced ( better than most of the private drain-clearers).