That tiny clog in your bathroom sink can cause big problems. Drain clogs can turn out to be time-consuming and expensive. If it’s a kitchen sink clog, you’ll be hampered from cooking meals, so the inconvenience factor is huge.
The pipes that drain our homes are something that you probably don’t think a lot about – until they stop working. When that happens, your best bet is always to call for professional help. A good plumber can make all the difference.
Don’t Do This – Preventing Clogs
The best thing you can do for your drain health in your home is to clean debris from them regularly. You can also have a candid discussion with your kids about what – and what not – to stuff down the drains. Modern plumbing isn’t meant to take the kind of abuse we regularly heap on it. Teach family members that your toilet or kitchen sink are not trash cans.
The bathtub and bathroom sink handle a lot of hair and toothpaste, so it’s a good idea to check them periodically and make sure they’re draining well. Here are some simple maintenance tasks we recommend:
· Pull up the pop up stoppers in the bathroom sinks and discard any of the gross debris that collects there. Then stick the pop up right back in your sink.
· You can also pull the cover off your tub and follow the same process.
· In the kitchen, try grinding a few small ice cubes with some common table salt to clean grease off the sides of the disposal. Then pop a cut up lemon in there to deodorize it. Always run lots of water as you’re grinding up food particles in order to give the disposal a good flush.
· Things to not put in your garbage disposal include cooking oils and grease; coffee grounds; bones; bread and pasta; gum; hair; paper towels or other paper items.
· Things to not flush down your toilet include sanitary items, prescription medications, dental floss, Band-Aids, or “flushable” products like toddler wipes.
If you flush the wrong things down drains and toilets over time you will get a clog. How you handle that clog is particularly important. Never use over-the-counter harsh solvents on your drains. Over time, those chemicals can burn through pipes and cause more damage, not to mention the environmental concerns when they come out the other end. You can use a biological drain cleaner like Flow! from Gardens Alive to help keep your drains cleaner over time. Having a good plunger around can help with small clogs. There are even videos on YouTube to help you learn to use them properly.
Here’s a good article from Consumer Reports on the best ways to keep your drains clear at home. These methods may or may not work; it just depends on how bad the clog is. For the safest and most efficient ways to unclog stuck drains, call a professional plumber. Plumbing By Jake provides plumbing services in the Kingman, Arizona area. Contact us – we’re here to help!
