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The pipes and drains in your home are the unsung heroes of your home. Today, many people take water being ready for them at the turn of a faucet for granted. On the other side of things, drains take the wastewater away from your home. Both are vital to the function of your home.
However, they aren’t indestructible. Every plumbing system experiences wear and tear. This rate of deterioration can be hastened by bad habits on the part of the homeowner. We want your plumbing to stay healthy and last as long as possible. We will detail the best practices for your drains so you can delay and problems with your system.
“Flushable” Wipes
Package advertising can be misleading. Most people know this, but it’s hard to tell what specific products can be trusted. One of the most problematic examples we see in our field is the so-called “flushable” wipe.
It turns out that just because something is flushable doesn’t mean it’s good for your system. Orbeez are technically flushable, but as this French influencer found out, that doesn’t mean it’s good for the plumbing system.
Flushable wipes function not that differently in the larger plumbing infrastructure believe it or not. With toilet paper shortages due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there has actually been an increase in incidents related to flushable wipes bunching up in the sewer system!
If your flushable wipes don’t cause a clog in your own home’s plumbing, it may impact your neighbors and the essential work being done by municipal waste treatment facilities.
Solid Fats
Many people are rediscovering their love of cooking in isolation. Fat makes food taste good, but it isn’t the best thing to put down your drains. If you’ve cooked up some bacon, don’t just pour that grease down the drain. Remember that many fats become solid at room temperature. While that bacon grease is liquid right now, it can easily create clogs once it cools.
Unless you have a specialized compost that can handle fats, we recommend either storing the grease for later cooking or simply throwing it away.
Garbage Disposal Don’ts
Now we can start talking about the unsung hero of kitchen plumbing, the garbage disposal. There are certain foods that do not mix well with the blades of your garbage disposal. Vegetables that are very fibrous can gum up the works and wear out the motor. Here are a few examples of foods that can get caught in the blades.
Onions
Eggshells
Celery
Peels
You also have to worry about foods that expand or that can’t be broken up well by the garbage disposal. These items can probably get past the blades and into the drain but can cause clogs once they’re there. We’ve listed some of these foods below.
Pasta
Rice
Bones
Avoid these items and let your garbage disposal handle the rest!
Toxic Drain Cleaners
Even if you follow all of these do’s and don’ts, it does not mean you will never get another clog in your drains. Sometimes, the quality of water you receive in your home leave mineral deposits that make clogs form more easily.
However, when this inevitably happens you need to respond in the right way. Toxic commercial drain cleaners aren’t the way to go. They lack the precision that an experienced plumber’s tools can provide. Instead, the chemical reaction these products use simply burns away everything in sight. This includes your pipes! We’ve seen modern PVC piping warp as a result of contact with these toxic cleaners. Older pipes can be severely damaged by them as well.
In order to ensure the long-term health of your plumbing call your local plumber when you get that occasional clog that you can’t clear with a basic plunger.
If you need plumbing help, call Paws Plumbing at (858) 252-1670 or fill out an online contact form! We are taking every precaution to ensure we can service your plumbing safely during this time.