If any of the drains in your home seem to clog repeatedly, that’s not normal, and you need to investigate why it’s happening. Generally, when household drains seem like they’re always slow or totally clogged, it’s because household members repeatedly allow things to flow into the drains that don’t belong there. Damaged plumbing can be a culprit, too, but more often than not, the problem is caused by user neglect.
Luckily, frequent drain clogs are pretty easy to fix, and you can start by scheduling a professional drain cleaning appointment. Once your drains have been thoroughly cleaned by a pro, you’ll want to assess your drain habits and make some changes to prevent slow drains from recurring.
Which poor drain care habits might be causing your drains to clog repeatedly? Read on to find out.
1. Flushing Trash Down the Toilet
Your toilets are designed to handle human waste and toilet paper. That’s all. Period. So if you’re flushing anything else down the toilets in your home, that’s a probable culprit behind your frequent toilet clogs. And yes, even “flushable” wipes can cause clogs within your main sewer line or in your septic system.
Although their labeling might say “septic safe,” flushable wipes aren’t really designed to disintegrate as rapidly as they should to prevent blockages from forming. In addition to avoiding problematic flushable wipes, you’ll also want to avoid flushing any of the following items down your toilets:
● Paper towels
● Floss, Qtips, or cotton swabs
● Feminine hygiene products
● Diapers
● Wrappers
If your toilet clogs repeatedly, professional water jetting can easily fix the problem, but you’ll need to take measures to prevent the problem from recurring. Inform household members that they should never flush anything other than toilet paper, and to encourage compliance, place trash bins in all of your bathrooms if you don’t already have them.
2. Allowing Grease and Oil to Flow Into Kitchen Drains
You might not mean for it to happen, but a substantial amount of oily, greasy, and fatty matter can find its way into your kitchen sink drains when you’re washing dishes or cooking meals.
When greasy substances make their way into your sink drains, they can stick the interior of the drain where they’ll congeal into a sludgy mess. That sludge can easily trap small food particles as they pass through the drain, which will cause a clog to form over time.
Even if you have a garbage disposal, it’s not designed to dispose of anything fatty or greasy. You’ll also want to prevent anything starchy or super fibrous from flowing into both regular drains and the garbage disposal. These foods — along with coffee grounds, seeds, and pits — can easily cause clogs that necessitate professional drain cleaning.
3. Neglecting Shower Drain Cleaning
No one loves the thought of reaching into their shower drain opening to pull out hair and goop, but this cleaning task must be done periodically to encourage smooth drainage. When hair collects near the drain opening, it can easily prevent water from flowing into the drain as quickly as it should.
Then, when water backs up into the bathtub or shower, it may seem as though there’s a blockage farther down the pipe, but in reality, the problem is often sitting right in the drain opening. If you’re put off by the idea of pulling goopy hair out of your shower or bathtub drain, you can install a drain strainer, which will catch all of the incoming hair for you.
4. Allowing Pipe Scale to Accumulate
If you have hard water, recurring pipe clogs may be due to scale buildup inside your plumbing system. Often, scale deposits result from dissolved minerals in the water supply that are continually left behind as water flows through the pipes. When a scale deposit forms, it then attracts more minerals to the area, and over time, a major clog can develop.
While a drain cleaning specialist can easily get rid of clogs caused by scale buildup, it’s in your best interest to take measures to prevent that buildup from occurring. Aside from clogging up your drains, hard water can also have a negative effect on washing machine drainage and dishwasher performance.
How to Fix Frequent Drain Clogs: Do-It-Yourself Prevention Tactics
When you’re dealing with recurring slow drains, the best thing you can do is call a drain cleaning specialist to schedule a camera drain inspection and a thorough drain cleaning.
The inspection will reveal where the problem is located within the drain, as well as what’s causing the blockage. Once the drain is clear and you’re aware of the culprit behind the issue, you can take measures to prevent clogs from coming back. Here’s what you’ll want to do:
● To prevent frequent toilet clogs, make sure everyone in your house knows not to flush anything other than human waste and toilet paper.
● To prevent shower and bathtub clogs, be sure to clean drain openings regularly or install drain traps that prevent hair and other small particles from flowing into the drain.
● To prevent scale-related clogs, install a water softener if you don’t already have one. If you are using a water softener, have the unit professionally serviced if you’re still getting scale buildup in your pipes.
● To prevent kitchen drain clogs, install drain traps to prevent small food particles from entering the drain, and be sure to clean your garbage disposal periodically. Collect used cooking oils and grease in a glass jar or disposable container and toss the container out once it’s full.
Contact Drain Blaster Bill for Same Day Drain Cleaning in the Twin Cities
If your household drains are acting up, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at Drain Blaster Bill’s Sewer & Drain Cleaning. We offer same-day service to get your drains back up and running as quickly as possible, and our skilled technicians are fully insured. To get started or learn more about how we can help you, feel free to call our Stillwater, MN, office today at 763-913-8719 or request a free estimate, and we’ll be in touch!