# Fatberg column and household grease **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 26, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523 "2018-01-26T15:02:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/21 "2018-01-28T17:30:35Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > rat-sized chunks of dead rats Somehow this just cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/22 "2018-01-29T21:55:51Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > This may be urban legend, but I’ve heard it said that if we use old oil from fast food joints in our diesel rigs, the exhaust smells like french fries … see where I’m going with this … maybe turning these fatbergs into biodiesel ain’t such a good idea … I’m not sure if it’s the actual exhaust but my dad’s old Volkswagen Jetta ran on diesel and he used biodeisel converted from restaurant grease traps (there’s a process, you can’t just dump grease in your car). But yes, it smelled like french fries or tacos to ride around in his car (I think it depended on where a particular “batch” came from). It wasn’t that strong, it was like riding with a bag of food from the drive thru in a car. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/23 "2018-01-29T21:59:46Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > 1. If you form a band named “Fatberg Apocalypse”, I want a percentage. Gross, not net. I think it’d have to be gross, by definition. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/24 "2018-01-29T22:47:57Z")
According to one description “soaps” are formed by the reaction of a metal with a fatty acid. According to another description “soap” is sodium + fatty acid: any other metal forms a “detergent”. Hence the “detergents” in your motor oil, and the “soaps” sold for lubrication. Oddly enought (we never had an lab samples in high school), Calcium is classified as a metal, and it forms what is called either a “soap” or a “detergent”. So… it this what happens when you get calcified arteries? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/25 "2018-01-31T16:48:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think it’d have to be gross, by definition. 😛 I just want my palms greased, but you know how crooked those oily record company fatcats are. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/26 "2018-01-31T17:39:58Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > According to one description “soaps” are formed by the reaction of a metal with a fatty acid. According to another description “soap” is sodium + fatty acid: any other metal forms a “detergent”. Hence the “detergents” in your motor oil, and the “soaps” sold for lubrication. > > Oddly enought (we never had an lab samples in high school), Calcium is classified as a metal, and it forms what is called either a “soap” or a “detergent”. > > So… it this what happens when you get calcified arteries? Again … not a chemist … but there seems to be a bit more difference between soaps and detergents, although their actions are mostly the same … soaps are made of simple fatty acids whereas detergents are made of acids not as simple as simple fatty acids … something in the structure causes detergents to push further to the disassociated state at equilibrium … meaning it works better at allowing grease and fat to dissolve in water … Soap made with calcium isn’t near as good as soap made from sodium, but it’s still simple fatty acids involved so technically it’s soap … it won’t have the fancy-pants acids that detergent is made of … Yes, calcium is a metal … it’s placed on the left 3/4’s of the periodic table … Does eating soap cause calcified arteries? … who knows, I don’t think that’s been tested … ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/27 "2018-01-31T17:45:45Z")
Missed edit window: Grease has fatty acid components, but these are bound to a glycerol group, not to a metal … so different … ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/28 "2018-01-31T18:13:44Z")
Cecil: “This past fall, London saw its largest yet: the Whitechapel fatberg, 140 tons heavy and 270 yards in length. A leviathan glob of solid fat, human waste, and trash is more than gross enough on its face, but consider too where all the sewage it’s blocking will subsequently bubble up.” Oh, Lord, this redefines the term, “disgusting”. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/29 "2018-01-31T19:28:49Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Cecil: “This past fall, London saw its largest yet: the Whitechapel fatberg, 140 tons heavy and 270 yards in length. A leviathan glob of solid fat, human waste, and trash is more than gross enough on its face, but consider too where all the sewage it’s blocking will subsequently bubble up.” > > Oh, Lord, this redefines the term, “disgusting”. ☹ No worse than London before the sewers went in … the Thames was pretty nasty in the early 19th Century … {[Cite](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/FaradayFatherThames.jpg) from 1855} … ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/30 "2018-01-31T20:04:53Z")
As one point of clarification: The reason it’s surprising that calcium is a metal is because you’ve never seen calcium. You’ve just seen calcium compounds, such as calcium carbonate. But the properties of a compound are very different from the properties of the elements that make it up: Just as rust doesn’t look very metallic, despite being made from a metal, neither does chalk. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/31 "2018-01-31T20:53:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > As one point of clarification: The reason it’s surprising that calcium is a metal is because you’ve never seen calcium. Yeah, people’s perceptions of metal are biased by being exposed to only those inert enough to stick around for a while. I remember poking around in the storage room in my college’s chemistry lab (while doing work study) and finding dusty old jars with “loaves” of dull metals stored immersed in oil because they might spontaneously combust if exposed to air or water. (Like [calcium](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyWg-oiHydg) and [sodium.)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3422Zk5tj4) Something like iron is inert in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/32 "2018-02-01T03:04:48Z")
Fun Fact: In WW2 the napalm used was gasoline jellyfied was adding an aluminum based “soap” to it (no, your bar of Ivory won’t work). After the plastics industry took off postwar, this was replaced by polystyrene. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/33 "2018-02-01T14:52:45Z")
Everything is too easy. We simply wash it down the drain or flush it down the toilet, and it seemingly disappears. Unfortunately, appearances can truly be deceiving, and the horrific nightmare lies below us unseen. Perhaps, if we were forced to confront the horror of our own creation, we would become far more circumspect in our actions. I suggest, **"Free Fatberg Tours!"** ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/34 "2018-02-01T15:11:30Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I suggest, **“Free Fatberg Tours!”** Yes, but that runs the risk of having people think that it is a campaign for the pardon of the convicted serial killer Fatberg Tours. [Okay, it is a _South Park_ Reference](http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Hat_McCullough). ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/35 "2018-02-01T15:23:36Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Everything is too easy. We simply wash it down the drain or flush it down the toilet, and it seemingly disappears. Unfortunately, appearances can truly be deceiving, and the horrific nightmare lies below us unseen. Perhaps, if we were forced to confront the horror of our own creation, we would become far more circumspect in our actions. I suggest, **“Free Fatberg Tours!”** Just make sure you warn people about looking up into the side branches of the system … [giggle] … or even standing next to them … ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/36 "2018-03-21T19:47:32Z")
A couple of artists in the Netherlands were inspired by the original BBC stories to try and create [Fatberg Island](http://fatberg.nl/) > [@](#): > > Looking out towards the ocean, FATBERG is easily spotted by the flock of seagulls circling above, swooping down to take a welcome nibble of its vast store of energy. Only a few square meters of the manmade island lift themselves above the waves, bobbing slowly up and down, side to side. If you ask the creators of FATBERG why they made it, you might hear: we feel the need to archive our times; or, we’re building a strategic reserve, anticipating difficult times ahead. The truth is they don’t know why, they simply know they must… ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/37 "2018-03-27T09:33:47Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Perhaps, if we were forced to confront the horror of our own creation, we would become far more circumspect in our actions. I suggest, **“Free Fatberg Tours!”** The Museum of London [has anticipated you](https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/exhibiting-fatberg-monster-whitechapel) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/38 "2018-03-27T12:20:41Z")
I remember seeing an old black and white movie on TMC-retro with, I think, Steve McQueen, called “The Blob”. In all honesty, I’d rather be consumed by that black glob of tar than a horrific glob of fat. At least I wouldn’t die puking. There’s something very wrong with the way humanity is living if we can produce something like that. It’s like some grotesque urban legend actually coming to life. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/39 "2018-03-27T14:02:06Z")
One of the videos I saw on fatbergs had an expert(?) say if you do pour grease down the drain (accidentally, surely), chase it with a couple cups of baking soda and vinegar. What would that do and if I just mixed the baking soda and vinegar into the grease first, would it make something I could pour down the drain safely? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523/40 "2018-03-27T14:21:52Z")
The largely held opinion is that one doesn’t intentionally pour grease down a drain, period. The suggestion is to pour it in a can or other container where it will solidify after cooling or, if it is a small amount, to let it cool and dispose of it in the trash directly. If people would think of those tunnels filled with that fat as fatty arteries, they’d probably cut way down on the grease they consume. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatberg-column-and-household-grease/807523.md?page=3)