A clogged drain can be frustrating, messy, and expensive. The best way to deal with these types of plumbing issues is to try to prevent them before they occur. Do you know how to prevent drain clogs? Instead of battling the issue once it happens, we have some simple tips that can help you reduce the chance of clogs in your sinks, toilets, and showers.
Prevent Sink Clogs
The most helpful way to prevent kitchen sink clogs is to be careful with what you put into your garbage disposal. Instead of putting all your food scraps down the disposal, try to stick to things that are easily broken down and aren’t full of starch or stringy membranes. Things like potato peels, pasta, and rice should go into the garbage can because they can cling to the insides of your disposal and pipes, causing clogs. Also, avoid putting things like stringy celery into the disposal because they can wrap around the disposal mechanism. Hard materials like bones can break the disposal blades and cause the whole unit to fail.
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Prevent Toilet Clogs
Toilet clogs are preventable if you follow some simple precautions. Our first and most important tip is: Don’t use too much toilet paper. This can be especially challenging when you have small children. The key if you or your kids find the need for more than a little TP is frequent flushing. This will reduce the amount of paper that accumulates in the toilet, and minimize the risk of a clog.
Another important tip is to keep anything that isn’t toilet paper or human waste out of the toilet. Don’t flush facial tissue, baby wipes, feminine products, flushable wipes (they aren’t good for your plumbing), or anything else that isn’t easily degradable. Just because it goes down the hole, doesn’t mean it won’t cause a clog or, worse yet, a sewer drain clog.
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Prevent Shower Drain Clogs
Shower drain clogs aren’t as common as toilet and kitchen sink clogs, but they can happen. The most common culprit when it comes to clogged shower drains is hair. Our best tip for preventing hair from clogging your shower is to add a mesh hair trap to your drain. They’re inexpensive and fit right over the existing drain opening.
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Prevent Bathroom Sink Clogs
Bathroom sink drains are prime spots for beard trimmings, stray hairs, and soap scum to congeal and cause clogs. To prevent sink clogs in the bathroom, try to minimize the hairs that get rinsed down the drain. It only takes a moment to wipe up the hairs and put them in the trash can. Another good clog prevention habit is to remove the sink stopper and clean it off once a month.
How Kids Can Help with Drain Clog Prevention
Kids are not always cautious about the things they flush down the toilet or rinse down the sink, but there are some ways to get them on board with drain clog prevention. Start early by showing them how much toilet paper can safely be flushed down the toilet at one time. Create a game to help them understand what can and what can’t go into toilets and drains. Explain what happens to the sink, shower, tub, and toilet drains if they were to put the wrong things in them. Discuss what happens when drains are clogged and how it creates hassles for the whole family.
Stubborn Drains? Call in the Pros
When it comes to clog prevention, routine maintenance and an annual plumbing inspection is your best option. However, even the best plans can go awry (especially if you have young children). If you’ve put all the necessary prevention measures in place but still end up with a clogged toilet or drain, don’t worry. Your local plumbing pros at Mr. Rooter are ready to help. Contact us today or request service online.
