Clogged drains are a common source of frustration in countless households. Whether the affected drains are found in the kitchen, bathroom or any other part of your home, clogs can throw everyone’s daily routines into disarray. Furthermore, depending on the nature of the clog, clearing the drain can be a time-consuming and expensive undertaking. Although clogged drains can be a pain to deal with, they’re surprisingly easy to avoid. So, if you’re looking to make clogged drains a thing of the past in your household, put the following tips to good use.
Acquaint Yourself with a Good Plumbing Service
If clogged drains are a frequent occurrence in your household, take care to acquaint yourself with a dependable plumbing service. The right plumbers will be able to unclog a wide assortment of drains in a timely and professional fashion, thus saving you a tremendous amount of hassle. So, if you want to prevent clogged shower drains for the foreseeable future, make sure you have a reliable plumbing service in your contacts.
Invest in Hair Catchers
Hair is a common culprit behind clogged drains. The more people you have in your household, the more hair will find its way down various drains – and without sufficient protection in place, clogging is inevitable. Fortunately, you can nip hair clogs in the bud in a simple and cost-effective manner by investing in hair catchers for your sink and shower drains. Per the name, these handy contraptions serve to catch the vast majority of hair that attempts to find its way down your drains. For maximum effectiveness, make sure to clear your hair catchers on a regular basis. Depending on how much hair your family produces, you may even need to do this as often as once a day, though it shouldn’t take longer than a minute or so.
Be Mindful of What You Flush
It’s not hard to see why toilet drains are among the most frequently clogged drains in many households. Adopting a “flush now, worry later” approach to toilet use is liable to produce stubborn clogs and costly repair bills. As such, it pays to be mindful of what goes down your commode. For starters, try to avoid flushing copious amounts of toilet paper at one time. If you find yourself using a fair amount of paper, flushing once or twice before you’re finished wiping can help prevent paper from piling up, thereby reducing the likelihood of clogging.
In recent years, wet wipes have become increasingly popular. While once viewed as the exclusive domain of babies, a growing number of adults have come to appreciate the cleanliness and moisture these wipes offer in comparison to standard toilet paper. However, flushing too many of these down your toilet at once is likely to produce a clog. The exact number varies from brand to brand, but many companies recommend that you flush no more than two of these wipes at a time. Since wet wipes tend to be much thicker than regular toilet paper, they’re more prone to clogging. For the same reason, you should also avoid flushing tissues and paper towels.
Go Easy on Your Garbage Disposal
People tend to expect entirely too much from their garbage disposals. While disposals can prove useful for getting rid of small food scraps, they shouldn’t be viewed as end-all solutions for wood waste. With this in mind, avoid placing large scraps and hard foods down your disposal. Not only does this stand to create clogging, it can also damage the disposal’s blades and shorten its lifespan. To learn more about the capabilities and limitations of your particular disposal, consult the device’s owner’s manual.
Few things can ruin an entire household’s day like a clogged drain. In fact, if a clog is stubborn enough, food prep, grooming rituals and other vital parts of daily life are likely to be disrupted. As such, every family should make avoiding drain clogs a priority. If your crew has clogged their fair share of drains, this is liable to strike you as an arduous undertaking. However, proactively staving off clogs isn’t nearly as difficult as you may think. Families looking to bid a long overdue farewell to clogged drains should take the previously discussed pointers to heart.