Your home’s drains are vitally important. We may not always appreciate them, but we rely on our drains every single day to whisk away waste. However, these unsung heroes aren’t invincible. There are a few things you need to avoid putting down your drains at all costs so you can avoid an expensive repair in the future. This is especially important during the COVID-19 outbreak where many of us are spending a lot of time in our homes, taxing our plumbing system.
“Flushable” Wipes
With many of the shelves in our stores empty of toilet paper, many people have been touting the effectiveness of “flushable” wipes. Here’s the issue. Advertising allows the word flushable to appear on a label as long as it can clear the toilet bowl. If that’s the case, then a lot of things you don’t want to put down your drains are considered flushable but are actually horrible for your plumbing system.
Why are flushable wipes a problem when they aren’t that different than toilet paper? The important distinction is that toilet paper dissolves in water. When things don’t dissolve in water that’s a recipe for blockages and clogs. All it takes is for that flushable wipe to catch on to something and it can sit there are catch more things and soon enough you have a major clog.
Later down the sewer line, these wipes can group up together causing major issues for the sanitation workers who fulfill a vital function for our society. Help make their day easier during this tough time. If you use flushable wipes, throw them in the garbage. Remember the only thing that should go down your toilet is toilet paper and waste!
Like with a lot of package advertising, be wary of false claims on household cleaning products! The most dangerous one is the so-called “flushable” wipe. It’s a lie plain and simple. In light of the recent toilet paper shortages, many are using flushable wipes in their bathrooms.
Grease
Now we move onto the kitchen. We hope it’s safe to assume you aren’t putting grease down your toilet! Let’s say you’ve just cooked up some bacon and you don’t know what to do with the extra grease. You can’t just throw it down your sink drain and start washing your pan.
While that grease is liquid now, it will firm up when it reaches room temperature. It probably won’t come as a surprise that solid things in your drain cause clogs. In addition, fats and water tend not to like each other so that grease won’t even wash away over time. Instead, it sits there waiting to cause a clog in your system!
Be Careful with the Garbage Disposal
The garbage disposal is a great tool for helping with waste, but it does have some drawbacks if you don’t use it properly. One of the big no-no’s of the garbage disposal is to never throw fibrous foods in it. That means complex carbs and certain vegetables. Here are a few things you should absolutely avoid putting down the garbage disposal.
- Celery
- Onions
- Eggshells
- Pasta or Rice
- Potatoes, even Loose Peels
These can easily tangle in the garbage disposal blades or can expand in your drain with water, causing a clog.
Floss
Many people think that floss is small enough that it won’t cause a problem. Unfortunately, that’s not the case! Floss loves to cling and get caught on things and that quality does not go away when it goes down your drain! It can very easily get caught on something and cause a major roadblock in your drains!
Toxic Commercial Cleaners
Clogs are going to happen. It’s an inevitability. However, sometimes the treatment can be worse than the disease. In this case, commercial drain cleaners are just about the worst way you can respond to this problem. These chemicals have no precision and can’t tell friend from foe. Instead, they utilize harsh chemical reactions to burn away everything it touches.
These cleaner cause problems for your pipes, especially if they’re older metal pipes. Additionally, our water sanitation system is not equipped to get rid of harsh chemicals. This has the potential to cause major problems for our shared water supply in the future. Let’s get ahead of the curve and protect our pipes by avoiding these toxic, dangerous chemicals.
