A clogged drain is one of the most common plumbing problems facing most homes and its also one of the easiest to prevent. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff we’ve had to remove from kitchen and bathroom drains over the years! The best thing about this problem though is that with a little forethought and common sense a lot of these problems could easily have been avoided. So we’ve compiled for you our 5 tips to avoid a clogged drain.
- Throw your used coffee grounds in the bin rather than washing them down the drain. This might not seem like a big deal but that once the water stops flowing and the grounds dry up they can form clumps which can stick and stop other bits of food from moving along the pipe, and soon you might be wishing you went out and just bought that long black from the cafe down the road, which leads to our next tip…
- Don’t wash food down the sink! Again this one might seem like a no brainer but you’d be surprised by the amount of food we find stuck in drains that people think will just flow on out to sea. By simply adding a strainer to the sink you can prevent a nasty drain pipe disaster.
- Don’t wash your hair down the drain. Hair is a very common cause of clogged drains, and long hair is the worst. Installing a hair catcher at the top of your drain to regularly clean out can save you a handful next time you need a drain unblocked.
- Avoid flushing heavy products down the toilet. The only paper going down your drain should be toilet paper, and avoid flushing large clumps that are too large for your toilet to handle.
- Don’t flush heavy liquids down the drain. This may come as a bit of a surprise, but not all liquids can be poured down the drain. Heavy oil, grease, fats, or any other liquids that could congeal in the drain (perhaps Mum’s delicious gravy) are best thrown in the trash. If you’re worried about a leaky bin, you could try pouring the liquid in a ziplock container before throwing it in the trash.
Need help with that drain? Call us on 1300 777 669
