Plumbing problems are not unlike mosquitoes. They’re both pesky, they have a habit of sneaking up on you and, ultimately they bite you somewhere it hurts. In the case of plumbing and drain problems, that’s usually in the wallet.
Well, the same way you can prevent mosquito bites with bug spray, knowing what to keep out of your drains can help prevent clogged drain problems. From our many years of experience, the following are among the most common contributors to clogged kitchen and bathroom drains.
- Grease – Nothing can stick to the inside of your kitchen drain line like cooking oil and grease. Even if you’re careful about rinsing after pouring, grease still finds a way to cling to the inner pipe surface where it will eventually harden and, over time, bring about a clog. It’s a far better move to pour grease and cooking oils into a coffee can or some other used container and dispose of it in your trash.
Paper – You know how many different kinds of paper products are specifically designed to dissolve in toilet water? Exactly one: toilet paper. Which means the smart move is to keep every other kind of paper out of the toilet, including: paper towels, facial tissues, sales receipts, wipies, and anything else you can think of – including cigarette butts!
- Food – Yes, even seemingly harmless morsels like kernels of corn, peas, little bits of lettuce and, you name it: they don’t break down in water which makes them perfect candidates to either cause or contribute to a clogged drain. So when it doubt, if you can’t grind it up in your garbage disposal, throw it out with the trash.
- Hair – Hair not only clings to the inside of drain lines, it clings to itself. And then, adding insult to injury, it acts like a spider’s web by attracting and holding fast to just about anything else you pour down the same drains, including shampoo, soap scum, and more. So to the extent possible, cover your bathroom drains with a screen or filter. Even then, you’ll be helping your own cause by occasionally pouring an organic drain cleaning product like Bio-Clean to help keep your drain lines clog free. Bio-Clean is not a retail product, but you can purchase it directly from Burton.
- Bath salts – Ah, it’s the end of long, trying day, and now you can baby yourself with a nice hot bath with a sprinkling of bath salts for good measure. Sorry to spoil that vision, but we advise you to skip the bath salts as they don’t dissolve, thus making them another leading cause of clogged drains.
Still, even the most careful of home owners can’t prevent every clog from happening. If that includes you, and that clog is happening right now, give us a call. At Burton, we have the drain cleaning equipment and experience to tackle any home sewer or drain problem, and we do mean “any”.
