The Amish Kitchen Drain Never Clogs — The 2-Cent Habit That Saves the Plumber

For two cents a week and a kettle of hot water, I have washed dishes by hand for a family of eleven for over fifty years, and my kitchen drain has never once clogged. Never once, and never a plumber. My name is Sarah. My grandchildren call me Mammi. I am Amish, Old Order, and I have kept house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, since I was a young woman, with a tin can at the back of the stove my mother kept before me. Most folks think a drain clogs because something big went down it. It does not. And nobody selling the jug of drain poison, or charging ninety dollars for the visit, has any reason to tell you otherwise. I will show you the habit, where to find what you need for two or three dollars a box, and the honest truth: what closes your pipe is grease, and a heaping spoonful of washing soda sent down with hot water turns that grease into soap and washes it away. ⚠️ Washing soda is the strong cousin of baking soda. Keep the box up high, away from little ones and animals, wash your hands after, and never mix it with a store bought drain cleaner. Treat it with the respect your grandmother did. Tell me in the comments how old your house is, and whether a drain has ever clogged on you. I read every one. 🔔 Subscribe for more of the old ways — next time, that sour smell that creeps out of the kitchen drain on a warm evening, and the one pantry thing that keeps it sweet.