What can I do to take care of my drains?
When your drains become blocked, it can be very stressful and inconvenient. If you have found yourself with a blocked drain, the most important thing is to act quickly before the blockage can grow in size and severity. If you do not have a blocked drain but are concerned about the risks, there are many steps you can take to avoid a blockage.
Kitchen sinks can commonly become blocked when food is flushed down the sink. Food substances such as grease or fat, or even coffee granules, must not be washed away down the sink as they can easily stick to the walls of the drains and this causes a buildup of waste which will eventually lead to a blockage.
If food is continually washed down the sink then the initial buildup will continue to grow in size, and if it is left for too long then this can lead to serious problems like a burst or collapsed pipe, and flooding. Flooding is a very serious issue that can cause a great deal of damage to your property. This will not only cost you a lot of money to fix, it also poses a major health hazard to everyone living at the property. Wastewater contains a huge amount of bacteria that can easily spread infection when it comes into contact with the surfaces in your home, so it is very important that you make sure to take good care of your drains in order to avoid this from happening.
Toilets are one of the most common appliances to become blocked. Quite often the blockages are caused when simply too much toilet paper is flushed away at once. However, we often see blocked toilets as a result of foreign objects being washed away, when they should be thrown in the bin. Items such as nappies, baby wipes, and sanitary items do not break down quickly enough for a toilet to flush them away, and they can become stuck in the pipes which will rapidly lead to the pipe becoming blocked as more and more items are flushed away incorrectly. Making sure to properly dispose of all waste in the bin will ensure that your toilet is being treated correctly, making it less likely to become blocked.
If you are correctly disposing of all waste, but are still concerned about the risk of your drains becoming blocked then there are steps you can take to catch any small blockages that may have begun to form. Pouring boiling hot water down your drains is a simple way to clean away any debris that might be stuck to the sides of the pipes. This can be done with your kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, and even your toilet.
Additionally, you can use baking soda and hot vinegar to eradicate any build ups that may have started to form and gone unnoticed so far. Begin by pouring a pot of boiling water down the drain, and follow this up with a cup of baking soda and a cup of hot vinegar mixed with water. If you have a cap for the sink plughole, place it over the mixture to contain the reaction and leave for a few minutes.
The chemical reaction between the vinegar and the baking soda will loosen and dislodge any debris in the drain. After a few minutes, wash the mixture away with another pot of boiling water. This method can also be used if you are going away for a short holiday and want to prevent your drains from blocking while you are away. Leave the mixture to do its work in the drain while you are away, and when you come home wash whatever is left away with hot water.
The last thing you want when you come back from a nice short getaway is to find your drains blocked and smelling bad. It is important that this preventative method is used only if you are away for a few days, as the mixture can begin to damage the pipes if left for too long.