Are egg shells supposed to be flung down the sink

[YellowPrincess]

My mother who ever she's making hard boiled eggs, she's put the cooked egg under cold running water and then just drops the broken shell into the sink to go down the drain.

Is that bad for the plumbing?

I can't understand how she can't use a container for the egg shells and put them into compost.

Tiny bits that have fell off, fine but does she spend time crushing the rest of it to fit down the drain??

That's a terrible idea. Ideal way to get a pipe blockage .

No, they are supposed to be broken up into tiny little bits so the witches can't sail away in them and cause havoc at sea according to my granny.

They will cause a blockage in the sink eventually though.

Well, it's not their main reason for existence.

It might block the sink. Presumably it's her sink, and she's been doing this for some time, so it's up to her.

[Awaits massive drip feed about why OP is posting this]

It's not tiny bits falling off. She's peeling the eggs and throwing the broken shells down the sink. She's not even using the bin. Just down the sink.

I think maybe some countries have a waste disposal down the sink but she never grew up in one of them countries.

Is she used to having one of those garbage disposal sinks with a blender?

That was my previous post. I think some countries have them systems but she never grew up in one of those countries. She was never abroad. She never lived abroad and she never had access to a system like that.

I mean, you clearly know that putting anything that isn't liquid down the sink is a bad idea.
why do you ask ?

No. They go in the rubbish, food waste or compost.

The only reason I can thing of for doing this is apparently slugs don't like slithering over crushed egg shells.

Do you know if she has had a slug infestation in her pipes (not an euphemism)?

I was taught to turn my empty dippy eggshell upside down and smash it to let the witches out....never been able to figure out what that was about but maybe it's linked to your story.

Well obviously, if you don't do that, then the witches use the eggshells as boats to sail across the sea and cast spells to sink ships. You just cannot be too careful with witches. folklorethursday.com/folklife/the-witch-files-going-to-sea-in-an-eggshell/

Egg shells should go in the food waste bin for recycling. Should never shove solids down your kitchen sink plug hole!

My granny used to bash holes in the bottom of egg shells "so the witches can't use them as boats". Didn't go as far as crushing into little bits though, just put the holed shells into the bin.

You're not really supposed to put anything down the sink except water. (That's why insinkerators are not ideal.) The infrastructure isn't built for large solids and it makes the process and maintenance etc more costly.

That's a terrible idea!!

It's not tiny bits falling off. She's peeling the eggs and throwing the broken shells down the sink.

I'm mystified. They wouldn't go down the plughole. She must be crushing the shells, surely, unless she's taken the waste guard thing out of the hole? Or does she just leave them in the sink for later, and you think they're going down the drain?

Also, why are you bothered?

Is that bad for the plumbing?

I want to say yes, but if your mother had been doing this for a long time...

Thank goodness I am not alone in my witch saving ventures. Keep up the good work fellow traumatised people.

What about coffee grounds? My MIL insists in putting these down the sink swearing it unblocks the pipes. I'm sure this is not right.

They may just sit in the U bend. I grind eggshells to put on the garden but even ground up they sink in a jug of water and I have to swill them around to get them all out and onto the soil.