Grease build-up is way thicker and harder to remove than hair and paper clogs. This is something that every household faces mostly in the kitchen sink drain. It slows down draining and even creates a blockage that isn’t quite an easy task to remove. There are super strong cleaning solutions, but most of them aren’t safe on pipes.
Thankfully, a number of manufacturers produce biodegradable and safe to use chemicals to address the issue. The best drain cleaner for grease build-up doesn’t cause any damage to the pipes no matter how old the pipes are and also acts as a preventive to some extent.
Best 7 Drain Cleaners for Grease Buildup in 2022:
Whether your drainage system has new or old pipes made of plastic, copper, or other commonly used metals, you will find the most suitable cleaning solution for your needs from the list below.
1. Xionlab Safer Drain Clog Remover – 32 oz.
Although there are a limited number of safe to use drain cleaners available in the market, you will hardly find another biodegradable solution that effectively takes care of the clogs.
Say hello to the first product on the list from Xionlab. This is 32 oz. The bottle should be efficient enough to clean the clogs of your kitchen and bathroom drains.
You can use it on sinks, showers, bathtubs, and other areas that get frequently clogged or slow down the water drain. Unlike most cleaners on the market, this one doesn’t produce a sharp chemical odor. It’s odorless; therefore you won’t experience any after-burning smell whatsoever.
Use the cleaner to eliminate stuck grease, oil, fat, soap scum, lint, and other substances that cause the blockage. It takes about 8 hours to get you the best cleaning results.
The solution meets the sweet spot between effectiveness and being safe to use the product on pipes. It doesn’t cause any damage to your pipes and septic system.
- Biodegradable environmental-friendly formula
- Safe on pipes and septic systems
- Dissolves grease, oil, fat, and thicker substances
- Takes 8 hours to work
- Doesn’t contain any fume
2. Black Diamond Stoneworks Get Serious Grease Trap Treatment
Professional and household clogs aren’t the same. Commercial places mostly have to deal with grease and oils that are many times thicker than household clogs. To meet such heavy-duty drain cleaning demands, Black Diamond Stoneworks presents you with one of their serious grease cleaners.
Whether your commercial kitchen sink or other draining system is going through slow draining or is fully clogged, all you need is this cleaning solution. It’s powerful enough to dissolve grease, fat, oil, food, and other thicker substances that cause some serious blockage in drains.
Not only the cleaner handles the grease trap, but it also removes odors from the flowing system. If you are looking for an effective grease trap treatment for your restaurant, bakery, hotel, hospital, or other commercial places, you can get this cleaner in 1-5 gallons options.
Being a powerful cleaner, it doesn’t cause harm to the pipes as well as plumbing. So you have no reason to worry whether the pipes will get damaged or not. Also, the chemical ingredients in the cleaner are harmless to animals, plants, and marine life.
- Powerful commercial cleaning drain cleaner
- Ensures clean and odorless smooth-flowing system
- Safe on pipes
- Great for grease trap cleaning and maintenance
3. Green Gobbler Enzymes for Grease Trap and Sewer
Another environment-friendly yet powerful cleaning solution to tackle all grease and grime build-up in the drainage system. Be it a kitchen or bathroom, you can use the same solution to unclog the drains and make water flow smooth and fast.
This enzyme-based cleaning formula effectively cleans by targeting clog molecules and causes them to break down without taking too long. If you are also concerned about the odor, the cleaner comes useful for odor elimination as well.
You will find great results using the cleaner in drain lines, septic tanks, sewers, grease traps, interceptors, and other things that have to do with drain blockage.
Be sure to use the cleaner weekly to keep the drains clogs free. For grease traps, using daily will ensure smooth water flow. If you are to use it in septic tanks, use it monthly for best results.
Most powerful and strong drain cleaners cause damage to pipes to some extent. However, this will not happen when you use Green Gobbler. You can rest assured about the safety of the pipes as well as septic systems.
- Powerful cleaners
- Enzyme based, effective cleaning results in a short time
- Degrades grease, fats, oils, starches, cellulose, and food waste
- Eliminates odors
- Safe on pipes and septic system
4. PEQUA Industries Pequa Drain Opener 64 oz.
Cleaners that dissolve hair don’t come quite as effective when it comes to handling grease. This one is an exception because it allows you to unclog drains and pipes that are blocked by excessive hair and greasy substances.
Most kitchen sinks undergo this particular issue. If your kitchen sink drains water slowly or doesn’t drain at all, the cleaner is the one you need to tackle such conditions. Unlike conventional cleaners, it acts fast and unclogs with great results while not polluting the pipes and sewers.
Apart from hair and grease, the solution also handles organic matters quite well. If there are any organic matters along with the hairs that are causing the blockage, the cleaner will take care of it as well.
Being an effective drain cleaner, it remains gentle on pipes as well as plumbing. Also, the formula is environmentally friendly, which causes no harm to your surroundings. Environmental-friendly ones are the safest cleaners to use, and this is one of those products.
- Fast acting cleaner
- Dissolves hair and handle grease with great results
- Safe on pipes
- Environment-friendly formula
5. Thrift T-100 Alkaline Base 1-Pound Granular Drain Cleaner 2-Pack
If you tried soft chemical cleaners, and didn’t get expected results, and are looking for a strong formula that doesn’t harm the pipes, take a look at this cleaner from Thrift. Made for grease, oil, soap scum, and hair clogs, it can handle the drain cleaning job with great efficiency without taking much time.
Most cleaners take almost 6 hours to unclog the drain if the build-ups are heavy and thicker materials. However, this one only takes 60 seconds to get you the desired cleaning results.
The formula activates contacting hot water. So, you will need to run hot water through the pipes and then pour the formula, and again run hot water after a minute or two. It will clear the blockage as well as odors inside the pipe while not harming the plastic or metal materials.
Due to its tough and strong cleaning properties, you will find it really effective at cleaning sewers, grease traps as well as septic systems. Whether the pipes are made of plastic, copper, chrome, brass materials, the solution will not cause any harm to them.
- Unclogs grease, hair, soap scums, and build-up
- Cleans drain within a minute
- Reduces odor
- Safe to use on sewers, septic system, and pipes
6. Roebic K-97-Q-4 Laboratories K-97 Main Line Cleaner 32 Ounce
When it comes to clear sewers line and septic systems, homeowners mostly rely on professional services. However, not all issues require professional care. You can take care of most issues that have to do with full or partial blockage of drains, septic systems, and sewage lines when you have a cleaner like this one.
Compared to regular drains, sewer lines contain thicker and heavier substances such as grease, fats, sludge, paper, and other organic matters. If you use conventional cleaners to unclog such matters, the result won’t be much satisfactory. That’s where the Roebic main line cleaner strikes.
The cleaner can degrade and dissolve all the substances that I just mentioned, and even more. Although the formula is for heavier clogs, it treats pipes very gently. Thus, there is nothing to worry about whether the chemicals will damage the pipes or not.
Once you apply the solution, it starts breaking down the waste in pipes and restores proper flow without taking too long, unlike other pipe cleaners. It also effectively eliminates the odor inside the pipe.
- Uses bacteria to degrade clogs and waste build-up
- Restores flow quickly
- Effective at cleaning grease, oil, and paper
- Safe to use on septic systems and sewer lines
- Eliminates odor
7. Professor Amos’ SuperFast 2-Pack 32 oz. Drain Cleaner and Drain Opener Liquid
The last cleaner on the list is from Professor Amos’. This one is a commercial-grade clog remover, which means it’s a bit stronger and clears tough to unclog messes. If you own a hotel, restaurant, bakery, hospital, or any commercial place, it will make cleaning a hassle-free task without paying for a professional cleaning service.
Most commercial places deal with grease, oil, fat, and food that slow down the water flow in drains. To dissolve these matters and also many organic ones, all you need is this cleaner. It breaks down the clogs and dissolves within a short time.
If you are concerned whether the liquid cleaner will cause any harm to the pipes; well, you can rest assured that the pipes will be fine after you use the solution. Even if your house has old pipes installed, the cleaner will be gentle on the pipes be it plastic or metal.
Feel free to use it in septic tanks, sewage systems, and cesspools as well. You will get cleaning results like no other. Depending on the clogs, you might need to apply the solution twice on the drains.
- Commercial strength cleaner
- Ideal to use in septic systems, sewer lines, and cesspools
- Cut through grease, fat, oil, and other organic matters
- Quick cleaning time
Factors Need to Consider while Choosing the Best Drain Cleaner for Grease Buildup:
It’s important that you buy the right cleaner for your purpose. These commercial cleaners are effective at cleaning certain types of clog. Be sure to consider the following things in mind before you buy a suitable drain cleaner for cleaning needs.
Clog Type
Different formulas are good at cleaning different clogs. Cleaners for bathrooms and toilets most deal with papers and soap scum. These might not perform well if you use them to clean kitchen grease clogs.
Therefore, determine where you will be using the cleaner solution. If it’s for cleaning toilets, tubs, showers, and bathroom sink, get one that handles papers and soap scum. For the kitchen, make sure the cleaner dissolves food particles and organic materials along with grease and fat.
Formula Type
Drain cleaners come in mostly 4 forms.
● Liquid Cleaners
These are good at dissolving substances inside the drain that takes a while.
● Powdered Cleaners
The powdered cleaners are for slow-cleaning. These require quite a few times to combat the clogs and make them soft enough to wash using hot or warm water. You won’t get good results for quick cleaning — some need to sit overnight to be able to clean drains thoroughly.
● Granular Drain
These cleaners are similar to liquid cleaners. They both work pretty much the same way.
Safe to Use
As there are plastic or metal made pipes inside drains. Therefore, make sure you don’t end up buying a super strong cleaner just because of its cleaning agents and properties. If the cleaner doesn’t remain gentle on the pipes, you shouldn’t buy it.
Hence, there are safe to use cleaners available in the market that work effectively at cleaning grease and similar thicker substances.
Where in Drain Lines Is Grease Most Likely to Build Up?
Kitchen sink and the pipes that are connected to it are most likely to have grease buildup that clogs the drain. Washing utensils and plates that have to deal with grease, oil, fat, grit, etc. that are cleaned in the sink. Compared to other drains, this is the place that has the most grease build-up.
Also, in commercial places, grease traps are another heaven for grease and grime. These areas require more cleaning efforts than others. Cleaning a kitchen sink is way more difficult than cleaning a toilet. And grease traps contain thicker and heavier grease and similar substances than what is found in the kitchen sink drain.
How Do You Prevent Grease Build-up in Pipes?
Prevention is the only key to avoid grease build-up in pipes. It’s not that the pipes will clog every now and then, and you have nothing to do about it.
While cooking and washing utensils, avoid flushing oils, fats, butter, eggshell, and other greasy elements into the kitchen sink. You can also use a grease dissolving cleaner and soak the plates and utensils in it before washing them.
Also, be sure to wipe the foods off the plates before you wash them. Dispose of the foods and scraped materials in the trash. For more convenience, consider installing garbage disposal under the sink. It will prevent the grease from causing the blockage in the drain.
How to Remove Grease from Your Drain Lines by Using Drain Cleaner?
Cleaning drains using formula cleaners is quite an easy task. Anyone with little or no experience will be able to unclog the drains. And of course, this is the most effective grease cleaning method that you can try. The formula comes ready, and you don’t need to add anything else.
To proceed, pour the cleaner you bought to get rid of grease in the pipes. Be sure to pour the cleaner into the kitchen sink in standing water.
Depending on the formula, allow the cleaning properties to do their work for an hour. Waiting time varies depending on the solution. Read the instructions; it should be mentioned anywhere on the label. The cleaning bacteria/enzymes slowly sink down the drain and wash away the grease.
If the grease is stubborn, you might need to pour more amount of cleaner or repeat the procedure a few times more. Consider leaving it overnight. In the morning, make a mixture of dishwashing soap and warm water, and pour the solution into the sink. This should clear all the grease to the sewer.
How Do You Dissolve Grease in Pipes Without Using a Drain Cleaner?
You can try some natural methods that work decently if the clogs aren’t too complicated and thick to remove. If you apply these methods on a regular basis, it will prevent grease build-up, and you will be able to clean the pipes with minimal effort.
Liquid Dishwasher and Hot Water
Keep in mind that this method will only work for narrow pipes. If your kitchen sink is having a slow-draining issue, try this one.
Mix a few tablespoons of dishwashing detergent with 2 litres of boiled water, and stir to mix them properly. Slowly pour this water down the drain. Wait for a minute, and again pour hot tap water. Do this repeatedly a few times until you get the desired results.
Salt and Boiled Water
If the clog is due to grease, oil, fat, soap, and other similar substances, this method will manage you to get the drain unclogged.
Pour half-cup of salt into the drain. Then, slowly pour 2 litres of boiled water, and flash with hot water again after a minute. Attempt this a few times, then the drain should be unclogged if it’s not too thick.
Gone are those days when seeking professional cleaning assistance was the only way to deal with heavier and thicker grease build up in drain lines. The best drain cleaner for grease build-up makes the cleaning a lot easier while not causing any harm to the pipes.
Don’t go for a strong cleaning solution unless the drain requires so. Also, consider whether the chemical will be safe to use for your drains, septic systems, and sewer lines.