Clogged drains are one of the most common plumbing issues that can affect your home, but they are also one of the most serious since they disrupt your entire plumbing system and can render a drain, toilet, or other water fixture completely inoperable until a professional plumber is able to clear the drain. Clogged drains can also cause physical stress and damage to your plumbing, making a leak more likely. The best way to prevent this from happening is to take proactive steps to prevent clogs from taking place.
1. Install Drain Strainers
The best way to prevent clogs from happening in all of your drains, from your kitchen sink to your bathtub drain, is to install a drain strainer. These mesh traps will collect all sorts of debris, including hair, food particles, and grease while still allowing water to pass through, preventing such debris from forming into full-on clogs within your plumbing. You'll have to clean these strainers out by hand every so often to ensure that they still allow water to pass through them, but it's much easier than having to deal with a clogged drain.
2. Don't Flush Trash, Don't Drain Food
You should make sure that you do not end up using your toilet as a garbage can. Flushing anything besides waste and toilet paper can quickly cause clogs within your home's plumbing: avoid flushing sanitary products, wipes, paper towels, cotton balls, and anything else you may use in the bathroom: those things can simply be thrown out. Further, in the kitchen, make sure that you compost or throw out food, or pass it down the garbage disposal, instead of simply washing it down the drain. Food can quickly cause clogs, especially if it is an absorbent food like rice or pasta which can swell in size.
3. Clean the Drains
Another simple yet important thing that you can do to clean out your drains is to regularly pour a cleaning mixture down them to dissolve grease and other debris. A mixture of vinegar and baking soda, just like a science fair volcano, can create a cleaning paste that will break down anything which may be stuck within your plumbing and will also remove any strong or unpleasant odors which may linger behind. Avoid using chemical cleaning products, since these can actually cause corrosion to your pipes and make a leak much more likely to occur with repeat applications.
For more information, contact a company like Stars N Pipes Drain and Sewer Cleaning.
