Here’s our how-to guide to better understand the importance of drain cleaning!
Ensuring that your home’s drains are looking and functioning optimally on a consistent basis always goes a very long way when it comes to assuring your plumbing system’s overall health. Drain cleaning maintenance comes in a whole variety of forms, but the most efficient way to clean your drains is to simply make sure that you’re remaining consistent when it comes to practicing this type of routine maintenance.
In this article we’ve compiled a brief guide into drain cleaning maintenance that will undoubtedly help you out when it comes to more thoroughly understanding what you need to know in order to maintain the health of your drains and plumbing system. We’ve made sure that this article can serve as a quick and easy reference point for you well into the future, so here’s what you need to know when it comes to drain cleaning maintenance!
Knowing What You Should NEVER Put Down Your Drains!
This list isn’t all that long, but it’s absolutely critical that you and everyone within your household understand the importance of this type of list. The first things everyone should know not to pour down their drains include things like grease, liquid fats and oils. This is because these types of substances can solidify as they cool down within your drains and pipes, which can then cause them to cling to your pipes and develop a paste that can create serious clogs.
Some of the other things you should never put down your drains include the following:
- Coffee grounds: Coffee is something that is terrible when it comes to sticking to the walls of your pipes and building up clog-inducing pastes within your plumbing system, so it’s never a good idea to put coffee grounds down your drains!
- Eggshells: Many homeowners think eggshells are ok to put down the drain because they’re somewhat fragile and can be broken up rater easily, but what happens is that the sharp edges of eggshells can easily get caught onto other items in your drains. This can subsequently cause clogs to grow in size and overall severity.
- Unused medicinal products: The main reasoning behind why you should never put medicinal products down your drains is because these products can end up finding their way into municipal water reservoirs and be harmful for fish and the environment.
Understanding Drain Cleaning Best Practices
A lot of homeowners rely upon over-the-counter liquid drain cleaners to do the majority of their drain cleaning maintenance, but the truth of the matter is that these types of drain cleaning liquids are NEVER the right option for your plumbing system’s longevity and overall integrity.
The reason why this is the case is because these types of chemical drain cleaners aren’t capable of telling the overall differences between the materials causing a clog and your actual pipes, so although these chemicals may be able to eat away at a clog it will also subsequently eat away at your pipes. This is never a good idea and can end up leading to much more serious plumbing issues later on, so instead of utilizing chemical drain cleaners we recommend the following low-impact maintenance drain cleaning practices:
- Pour a big pot of hot (not boiling) water down your drain, and then follow this hot water up with cool water to flush out any clogs that have begun to disintegrate.
- Utilizing baking soda and vinegar, and this is something that can be done as a routine DIY drain cleaning process. What you’ll need to do is pour about half a cup of baking soda down your drain and then follow that up with another half cup of vinegar. Then you’ll plug up your sink and let this solution sit overnight to allow it to eat away at any clogs. Then the next morning you should flush out your drains with hot water!
Knowing Which Tools Work Well For Removing Drain Clogs
There are three items you should have within your household when it comes to DIY drain cleaning, including a snake, auger and cup plunger. These three tools can go a pretty long way when it comes to adequately removing any pesky clogs, both big and small.
Of course there are plenty of instances that we hear about in which homeowners end up causing more harm than good when they conduct DIY drain cleaning practices, so it’s always important to keep the pros in mind when it comes to removing serious clogs!
Reach Out To The Experts At Beehive Plumbing For More Information About Drain Cleaning Maintenance!
Always feel free to reach out to us online or call us at 801-661-8155 today to speak further with one of our experts about maintaining the overall longevity of your household’s drains.
We’ll be more than happy to help you out with any issues you’re experiencing and make sure that your drains are functioning like new within one house visit!
