Follow these simple drain care tips to prevent nasty clogs and keep your drains in tip-top shape.
When in Doubt, Don’t Flush it
You shouldn’t flush anything but toilet paper and bodily waste down the toilet. That means no menstrual products, baby wipes, or kitty litter! Even products that are marketed as “flushable” should be tossed in the trash instead — it’s true that these products do break down in your plumbing system eventually, but it takes them a long time and in the meantime they are likely to cause blockages in your pipes.
Use Drain Strainers
Place drain strainers in your kitchen sink, shower, and bathtub drains. A major cause of drain clogs is from food bits, hair, and other debris washing down drains and causing blockages in the pipes. With drain strainers, all those bits will get caught in the strainers and then you can easily empty the strainers into the garbage. This is a simple, inexpensive solution that will save you a lot of grief in the long term.
Don’t Use Liquid Drain Cleaner
You’d expect using liquid drain cleaner to be a part of good drain maintenance, right? Wrong. Store-bought liquid drain cleaners contain corrosive chemicals. Those chemicals eat through clogs to get rid of them, but unfortunately they eat through your pipes, too! Liquid drain cleaners will corrode your pipes over time and cause leaks, which is a lot more difficult to get fixed than a clogged drain. Use a plunger to get rid of clogs instead of drain liquid, and if that doesn’t work, call in the professionals.
Have Your Drains Professionally Cleaned
Having your drains professionally cleaned every 1-2 years is an important part of proper drain maintenance. Plumbers will use snaking and/or hydro-jetting to thoroughly clean your drains, getting rid of any loose debris that is likely to form clogs. Having your drains cleaned will also remove and prevent foul odours from emanating from your drains.
For professional cleaning, repairs, and all your drain-maintenance needs, call Lone Star Plumbing & Heating at 403-295-3028.