Despite initially being fairly minor issues, blocked drains and clogged pipes can very quickly escalate into major plumbing problems. The best way to deal with these annoying and often costly blockages is by learning how to recognise and prevent them.
With that in mind, Smash.to lists some common causes of clogs in your drains below and the most effective ways to clear them.
Wipes
By now all people should know that wipes are not meant to end up in the toilet.
Grease, Fat, Oil
Grease from cooking is built-up with the minerals in the water, it creates a residue on the inside surface of your pipes. This residue then becomes hardened and solidifies inside your plumbing, which eventually becomes a blockage that completely stops the water flow.
The best way to prevent grease fat clogs is by using a paper towel to absorb the oil from your pots and pans and throw it in the trash. If you already have a grease clog, use a plunger or a liquid product to clean out your drain pipes.
Soap Scum
Because a wide variety of different soaps, shampoos, and dishwashing liquid are made using grease, fat, and other chemicals, they too can create blockages in your pipes. If using a plunger or drain cleaner doesn’t remove soap scum build-up, you might need to have your pipes professionally pressure cleaned by a plumber.
Pipe Clogging
Sometimes the plumbing system is old or maybe there’s a boiler in need of replacement that cloggs the flow.
Hair Clumps
If you want to know the reason why the bathroom drains in your shower or sink seems to get blocked the most in your house, the answer is actually right there on the top of your mind. That’s right, your hair.
Drain blockages happen so easily because the hair binds with sticky soap scum and other substances to form hardened clogs.
The best way to deal with blockages of hair clumps in your bathroom drains is by removing them with a bent coat hanger.
Food Leftovers
When you wash particles of food waste down your kitchen sink, it can very easily become solidified and create a clog once it is combined with all the grease, oil, and washing detergent. Then as more debris gets constantly added, the clog slowly reduces water flow until it eventually becomes a blockage.
The best way to stop this happening is by throwing all leftovers into the compost pile and making sure no food is washed down your drains at all.
Excess Dirt
While your drain pipes can obviously handle washing away a little bit of dirt, plumbing is only really designed for water. Whenever you wash the dirt down the drain, it doesn’t take long for it to build up with all the other debris down there and make your clogs worse.
Get into the habit of going outside and shaking it whenever you have any excess dirt, and washing any mud off with a hose.
Toilet Paper
Using too much toilet paper can very easily create a clog that slows water down when flushing, or a blockage that stops the water completely.
So, it doesn’t matter if you’re a folder or a scruncher, you should never try and flush too much TP. If the water is still draining when you flush, try using a plunger to dislodge or dissolve the clogged toilet paper.
Otherwise, you’ll need to contact a plumber if the blockage isn’t draining the bowl at all.
Foreign Objects
Many people think that it’s okay to wash anything and everything down their drain and that if it doesn’t fit, just break it up so it does. But your plumbing is only ever able to properly handle water, human waste, and small amounts of toilet paper at a time.
So if anything else is washed down your drain, toilet, or sink and gets stuck in your plumbing, you’ll most likely need to have it removed by a professional.
Tree Roots
Some older suburban properties can suffer from piping and pressure difficulties doing to roots gradually squeezing the plumbing system.
Prevention
By far, the cheapest and easiest method of fixing blocked drains is by doing everything you can to prevent clogs from happening in the first place. For starters, you should never allow anything into your plumbing that it wasn’t designed to handle.
A good way to do this is by purchasing drain guards for all of your sinkholes, and ensure they’re cleaned regularly, comment experts Fantastic Plumbers. This will prevent any foreign particles like food or hair from getting washed into your plumbing.
If your drain somehow gets clogged and you’re unable to clear it using the options above, get in touch with a fully licenced plumber.