When you are in the kitchen and you cook something, you won’t love to go out and put one thing at a time in the bins, and you’d end up putting items down the drain. This is one of the worst mistakes you can make in the kitchen. By throwing items down the drain, you are actually abusing the plumbing system of your home and asking it to cause you some serious trouble.
Indeed, you cannot see the entire plumbing system and layout of your home, but you can stop a lot of clogs and other plumbing issues by closely monitoring items that pass through your drains. By monitoring, we mean that there are certain items that should never pass the drain, or else they are likely to cause clogs in the entire system, which will back the items into your home.
In this article, we will help you understand the things you don’t want to put down in your drain, how to unclog a dishwasher, and how you can fix your clogged drains.
So, let’s get started.
Things You Don’t Want to Put Down Your Drain
If you want to save yourself from such drain clogs, you should know the things you should never put down the drain. We have already listed below the 10 things you should not put down your drain.
- Grease and Oil
Grease and oil are the common cause of drain clogs, and every plumber hates to see them. Oil is used at every home, and it turns to grease after multiple usages. People normally send their used oil down the drain and think that is the best way to dispose of used oil. It is never the best way.
Oil and grease become thick and cause layers in your drains that can narrow down the flowing area. Moreover, prolonged pouring of oil and grease into drains can lead to complete blockage of drains.
- Cotton Balls
Tissue papers and cotton bowls will not dissolve directly into the water in your drains, which can cause significant drain clogs. If you ever use a cotton ball or tissue paper, stay away from the drains while disposing of them and put them in the correct place.
- Household Fluids
Things like household cleaners and car fluids come under household fluids. Although these don’t cause clogs in your pipes, the chemicals can be dangerous when they are mixed into the water supply.
If you’re pouring them down the drain, they will surely make it into the general water body and contaminate water. You should check their disposal guidelines whenever you buy such fluids and only then take the required steps. Moreover, if you can buy all-natural cleaners at the local stores, you should surely switch to them and play your part in saving water bodies.
- Medicines
While medicines are small pieces, and you think they may not clog the drain pipes, they can cause much bigger damage than expected.
Almost all medicines will dissolve in water, and as there is water in the drains, you should not put down medicines in the drain. Doing this can pollute the water for a significant time as the water will contain the chemicals for a long time.
- Hygiene Products
Many people think that flushing hygiene products are the best ways to dispose of them, but that is wrong. Hygiene items like diapers, tampons, and sanitary pads harm your drain pipes and can completely block water flow in the pipes. Moreover, most of these products contain raw cotton or such materials that expand when they come in contact with water, which can make the clog even more challenging.
Always ensure you properly dispose of such hygiene products and are far away from drain pipes.
- Paint
Even though the paint is a liquid, you should never make the mistake of pouring it down the drain. The paint contains several chemicals, and it has the potential to pollute the environment. Moreover, it can cause your drain to clog. If you live in a town with better waste management facilities, you can safely visit the hazardous waste facilities to dispose of your old or unused paint.
- Eggshells
An eggshell may seem like the last thing that can block your drain but don’t underestimate it. Eggshells can actually cause a blockage. The sharp and hard edges of the shell will pile up other things coming down your drain and eventually cause a hard-to-find and fix clog.
- Flour
If you’ve spent some time in the kitchen, you’d surely know why you should never put down flour from your drains. Flour gets gooey once it comes into contact with water and forms lumps. Such lumps can block your drains, making it impossible for water to flow through the full pipeline. In such cases, there is only one place for the water to go: backing out from the drains and into the home.
If you are looking to avoid such disasters, you should never put flour down your drain.
- Coffee Grounds
While making coffee at home, you are likely to grind your beans, leaving significant coffee grounds behind. Putting coffee grounds down the drain may not look like a big thing, but it surely is. A survey of plumbers say that coffee grounds are the most common reason for drain clogs.
If you want to avoid this common issue, always dispose of your coffee grounds in a trashcan or composting area.
- Product Stickers and Packaging
Cleaning fruits and vegetables before eating is a healthy practice, and you may remove stickers while doing so. If the sticker falls into the sink and you finally let it go down the drain, there may be problems.
To avoid such packaging and stickers, peel the objects before washing and properly disposing them. These little stickers do not dissolve in water and can clog your pipes as well as block screens, filters, or pumps at the water treatment facility.
Now you know the things that can block your drain and cause significant plumbing disasters. Do you want to get answers on “why is my dishwasher not draining”? Then the next section is all about that.
How the Things You Put Down Your Drain Can Cause Clogs?
Everything other than plain liquid substance that goes down your drain has the ability to cause clogs. If you are not careful while using your drains, you’ll have to face many plumbing disasters. The most common way a clog can occur in your plumbing system is by objects getting stuck in the plumbing system and completely obstructing water flow.
The best way to prevent a clog is to have a drain lid at each of your drains. This will obstruct the direct flow of objects into the drains and will surely reduce the chances of a drain clog.
Fixing a Clogged Drain
Fixing a clogged drain is a challenging task, and you can do it in many ways. While some clogs can be cleared by following simple steps, there can be notorious clogs that require expert help. But before you call an expert, try the techniques below to fix a clogged drain.
Get Rid of Standing Water
The first and foremost technique to fix a clogged drain is to get rid of standing water. Any water that is not flowing is a breeding ground for bacteria and mosquitoes. If you let water stand in the same place for a long time, you may end up with bacteria and mosquitoes in your house. Such breeding can lead to many diseases and hygiene concerns.
Hence the first step in fixing a clogged drain is to get the water flowing. You can do this by spreading the water and making it negligible. Moreover, you can also get rid of the water by filling it into another bucket and using another unblocked drain.
Remove Objects That Cause Blockage
If you are going through a simple drain clog, it will be easier to spot objects causing havoc. If you can find the objects that are blocking water flow in the drain, the first thing you should do is to get rid of them. You can do this by removing the objects manually with a tong or something.
Use A Plunger
Another way to get rid of a clogged drain is to use a plunger. Plungers are the go-to tool for fixing any bathroom water issue. Just put a plunger and give it a good whip to unclog your drains.
Use Some Friendly Cleaning Liquids
A large portion of cleaning liquids are hazardous, but there is a part of cleaning liquid products that are completely nature-friendly and harmless. If you can buy some of those products from your nearby store, you should definitely give them a try; they can unclog your drains pretty easily.
Call a Plumber
If you don’t like to take matters into your hands and want to leave it to experts, calling a plumber is one of the easiest things you can do. Whether you have a question about whether a dishwasher won’t drain or how to unclog a dishwasher or pipes, you can get all the answers from a plumber. Book a plumber’s visit today, and get rid of all the plumbing disasters you face.
By now, you know everything about clogged drains, what items clog your drains, how to unclog them, and the things you should not pour down the drain. So, it’s better to follow this guide; you’ll never face any plumbing issues.
If you have any plumbing issues like standing water in the dishwasher, then we are just a call away.
Just give us a call and pass on all your plumbing stress to our expert plumbers and cleaners.
