Five Signs Your Restaurant Grease Trap Needs Cleaning

April 26, 2021

Anyone who’s ever worked in a restaurant knows that there is nothing pleasant about a grease trap. But it’s a necessary part of making a restaurant function. Fortunately, there are ways to keep issues with the grease trap at bay in the 70085 area with help from a grease trap cleaning service.

While it’s always best to hire a professional for commercial grease trap cleaning, you still need to know when your restaurant grease trap needs to be cleaned. Here are five telltale signs it’s time to clean out the grease trap.

Slow-moving drainage

When the sink and other drains in your restaurant are draining slowly, a full grease trap may be the cause. In fact, this is one of the most common causes of clogged drains. This is why it’s important to hire a grease trap cleaning service according to a regular schedule.

Grease, oil and fats may be in liquid form when they are washed down the drain, but over time they accumulate in the grease trap and begin to solidify. That leads to the grease trap getting clogged and slowing the drains in your restaurant.

Fortunately, you can check this with a simple visual examination. Take a look at the grease trap; if you see grease stiffening and forming a cap at the top, that means the trap is too full and it’s time to get it cleaned out.

Foul smells

If you are in a commercial kitchen and there is a seemingly unexplainable odor lingering in the air, this is usually a clear sign that the grease trap needs to be cleaned out. This smell is caused by a buildup of oil, fats, food waste and other sludge in the grease trap. Kitchen veterans will recognize the smell immediately, but even those who are new to the restaurant world will be able to recognize that something is wrong by the foul smell in the air.

Grease is 25 percent of total liquid depth

When your grease trap is more than a quarter full of grease and solids, it’s recommended to seek out commercial grease trap cleaning. If you wait too long beyond this point, it’s going to get more and more difficult to clean the grease trap.

Grease is leaking

If you find grease leaking out of the sink, the pipes or water lines, this may be a sign that the grease trap is full and you need to have it cleaned out. This is because when the trap is clogged, the grease will find its way out in other ways.

It’s been more than three months since the last cleaning

It is important to have the grease trap cleaned on a regular basis. Even if your grease trap isn’t up to the 25-percent-full mark, you still need to have it cleaned if it’s been three months or more since the last time it was cleaned.

When you need commercial grease trap cleaning in the 70085 area, contact Safeway Used Oil and Grease for professional, experienced service.

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