Maintaining your drains and plumbing system should be a way of life. I’ve never met a homeowner that wants to spend money on drain cleaning. The last time I looked, it cost a few bucks to have a plumber come out to the home. For most of us, minor plumbing issues are a snap; for example, clearing a toilet, sink, or bathtub can be handled by most homeowners or renters. If your clog is deep, you may need a drain cleaning specialist, and it may require heavier equipment. In most instances, a high-powered plumber’s snake will take care of the problem. However, if the drain is so severe that a high-powered snake cannot breakthrough, the hydro jetting machine is brought in to clear the worst clogs. But the best advice for maintaining your drains.
DRAIN CLEANERS ARE NOT THE BEST OPTION FOR CLOG-FREE DRAINS
The best solution for clog-free drains is maintenance. The first step is to be cautious as to what goes down your drain. Bathrooms used by young kids or teens are notorious for clogged or slow-moving drains. Jack and Jill corner bathrooms usually get hit the hardest because they get so much activity. For our bathroom sink drains, the culprit is hair, soap, toothpaste, phlegm, skin cells, and hair products are the most common culprit for clogging your sink drain. It all gathers around your stopper and creates a bacteria commonly referred to as black slime. Here are a few tips for creating clog-free drains. Maintaining your drains is the best solution for clog-free drains.
For high traffic sinks and bathtubs:
- Always run hot water down the sink after each use.
- Once a week, boil a kettle of water and pour it down the sink. This will help stop bacteria from forming.
- Whenever you clean the bathroom, pour a couple of tablespoons of baking soda down the drains and slowly pour white vinegar over the baking soda. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes and rinse.
For your toilet drains:
- Educate your young kids and teens on what NOT to put down your drains.
- Never any tampons or other feminine hygiene products
- Never paper towels down your drains
- No wipe of any kind, whether they say flushable or not. No governing body regulates whether a wipe is flushable or not.
- No cotton balls, cotton swabs, or Q-tips
Remember, when in doubt, throw it out. A toilet is for solid and liquid waste and toilet paper only. Everything else belongs in the trash.
Drain Cleaners Are Very Ineffective On Anything More Than A Very Minor Clog
Here are some of the basics for unclogging minor bathroom drains. While most companies would say liquid drain cleaners are bad for pipes, products such as Drano and Liquid Plumbr have been laboratory tested and will not harm your drains. They are also known to be very ineffective on anything more than a very minor clog, and they may not be best for the environment. You should NEVER use these products for a clogged toilet because they could damage the wax ring, but minor clogged drains in the sink or tub it could be a good solution. There are also some organic drain cleaning solutions on the market as well.
The Best Way To Clear A Bathroom Sink
The best and most effective way of clearing your bathroom drain is by removing your stopper and clearing the drain. Most clogs are at the top of the drain around the stopper. Once you have removed the stopper, you can remove the clog using a metal coat hanger. Another option is a Zip-It, a long plastic product with barbs that will pull debris from your drain. It costs a few dollars and can be purchased from your local hardware store or online. You could use an old toothbrush and a baking soda vinegar mix to clean the drain, and to complete the process, top it off with boiling water.
MAINTAIN YOUR GARBAGE DISPOSAL
Our garbage disposal is one of the most abused appliances in our home. If we take careful consideration as to what goes down them, we can increase the life expectancy dramatically. Here are some things you should steer away from putting down your garbage disposal.
- Avoid putting lard, vegetable oils, butter, margarine, meat fats, and shortening down the drain.
- No coffee grounds
- No eggshells
- Never any meat, poultry, or fish bones
- No fibrous foods such as celery and banana peels
- Avoid starches like rice and potato peels
Composting Is a Win For Your Drains
Spare your garbage disposal and drainpipes, start composting. For less than $25, you can purchase an attractive composting bucket for your counter. Deposit all your eggshells, coffee grounds, banana peels in your composting bucket. Have a larger composter in your backyard to dispose of your fruit and vegetable food scraps. You’ll create fantastic fertilizer for your garden. Eggshells have calcium, and banana peels are an excellent source of potassium for your garden. You will also keep our landfills from filling up, extend the life of your garbage disposal, and keep your drains from clogging. Composting is one way of maintaining your drains.
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It’s great that you mentioned that the best and most effective way of clearing your bathroom drain is by removing your stopper and clearing the drain since most clogs are at the top of the drain around the stopper. My dad needs help cleaning the drains since they started clogging up from the heavy rain. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing nice information about drain maintaining.
My sister rang me up last Tuesday in the afternoon and asked me whether I knew anything about drain services. She was looking to hire these services after seeing how the water in her kitchen sink is flowing out a slow pace. That’s where I told her I would help out with some research and luckily for her, I came across your helpful post here. I am most fond of where you elaborated on avoiding to put lard, vegetable oils, butter, margarine, meat fats, and shortening down the drain. You make a very good point here, which I’m sure those experiencing the same issues as my sister will be glad to be mindful of. Thanks! I’ll send this to her soon!
I liked it when you said that maintaining your drains and plumbing system should be a way of life. Someone recently told me that if your home smells stinky, that could be a sign of a clogged tank. I’m glad I found this article helpful. I will be contacting drain cleaning or septic services soon. Thanks for the tip.
Damn it! Not this again. I mean, my bathroom sink gets clogged again this morning. This is the fifth time within this week that such a situation happens and I refuse to deal with it ever again. Fortunately, you did come up with a suggestion that we could try and pour boiling water into our drain to get rid of hardened residues from it. I’ll remember this trick so the problem would be solved quickly.
I need to engage a firm to help me assess and fix a clogged drain that is next to my residence. I like how you mentioned that routine maintenance is the greatest option for clog-free drains. I would need to speak with a professional who could refer me to a reliable drain service in my neighborhood. I think the article is excellent.