Ever heard of Brown Friday? You probably don’t want to get caught up in it

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The holidays are busy time for traveling, getting together, and shopping. There is Black Friday, but have you heard of Brown Friday? We’re not talking about UPS’s large hiring event. The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbing and drain companies.

Big meal preparation and kitchen cleanup create "the perfect storm" for plumbers who stay busy unclogging kitchen sinks, garbage disposals and toilets.

Many plumbers call it “Brown Friday” because of the sewage they are called upon to deal with. One plumbing company, Roto Rooter, says the Friday after Thanksgiving is their busiest day of the year. They say their customer calls increase by 50% over an average Friday and they see a 21% uptick in business over any other four-day weekend period during the year.

If you have guests, more toilets are flushing. When the kitchen gets busy and the disposal starts receiving peelings, rice, and oily turkey drippings, things can clog up fast.

Here are some tips:

• Don’t pour fats or cooking oils down drains. They solidify in pipes and choke drains. Pour used grease into an empty, heat-safe container, such as a soup can, and store it in the freezer. Toss the can into the garbage after the grease becomes solid.
• Never put stringy, fibrous or starchy waste down the garbage disposal. Disposals can handle most scraps in small quantities but it’s best to toss food waste into the trash can.
• Make sure the disposal is running when you feed it food scraps.
• Grease-dissolving detergents can pass fats, oils and grease through your household plumbing, but the grease may still cause problems in the sewer lines.
• Don’t flush wet wipes down toilets. They won’t dissolve and will cause clogs.

You can recycle your deep-fryer oil by taking it to Louisville Metro’s grease drop-off location at 7501 Grade Lane.

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