When a drain is slow or completely clogged, using that fixture can be pretty annoying. However, those drain problems can get even worse over time if you don’t call a drain cleaning service as soon as possible. Clogs continue to build up each time you use a fixture, and they may eventually build up to the point that your drain stops working. The good news is, there are ways to prevent these major drain problems in your Minneapolis, MN, home. If you want to make sure your drains stay nice and clean and don’t need any expensive repairs or drain cleaning services, here’s what you need to know.
Choosing a Drain Cleaner
For the most part, you should leave all plumbing work up to the experts. While it might seem simple to unclog a drain, you should never go beyond using a plunger or a liquid drain cleaner to unclog a drain on your own. That being said, it’s important to make sure you’re using a liquid drain cleaner that isn’t doing more harm than good.
Chemical-based drain cleaners are the most popular option in most households, with Drano being one of the biggest names. While these drain cleaners can remove clogs without the help of a drain cleaning service, they can cause big problems, too. Chemical-based drain cleaners tend to eat away at your pipes, which means you’ll end up having to replace a section of your drain line rather than having it unclogged.
Enzyme-based drain cleaners contain enzymes that can break down the clog in your drain without doing the same thing to your drain line. If you’re going to pour a liquid drain cleaner down your sink every once in a while, you need to make sure you’re opting for an enzyme-based cleaner.
Garbage Disposal Tips
If you have a garbage disposal in your Minneapolis, MN, home, you might have a tendency to simply throw all your food in the kitchen sink and pulverize it with the disposal. While this might work for a while, it will eventually cause the disposal to fail or leave you with a nasty clog. If you don’t want to spend money hiring a plumber or drain cleaning service, you should avoid putting food down your kitchen sink.
Some foods, such as coffee grounds, egg shells, bones and grease should never go down your kitchen sink drain under any circumstances. These foods tend to build up and cause clogs a lot quicker than others, so you’re asking for trouble if you put them down the drain.
One of the best ways to avoid routinely hiring a drain cleaning service for your kitchen sink is to invest in a strainer. These strainers catch solids and let liquids flow through, which makes it easier to throw your food in the garbage. There are even strainers that attach to the corner of your kitchen sink so you can easily detach them and dump the contents into your garbage can.
Proper Toilet Use
Oftentimes, toilets get clogged from simply flushing a little too much toilet paper in one go. However, there are other causes of toilet clogs that can cause serious issues in your drain line. Any reputable drain cleaning service will tell you how important it is to be careful about what you flush.
For the most part, your toilet is only made to flush toilet paper and human waste. The reason for this is that toilet paper is designed to break down in your drain lines as water passes over it. Other paper products such as paper towels don’t break down nearly as quickly. Perhaps the biggest offender in this sense is the flushable wipe. Tons of companies make wipes that are marketed as flushable, but none of them break down properly in your drain lines. If you use these flushable wipes for long, you’ll end up making an expensive call to a drain cleaning service.
You should also avoid flushing any other bathroom products down your toilet, which includes things like makeup products and cotton swabs. The fewer items you flush, the cleaner your drain will stay.
Preventing Bathroom Clogs
The bathroom is one of the most difficult places to prevent clogs because of the things people use bathrooms for. While there are some things you can do to avoid calling a drain cleaning service for your shower or bathroom sink, these fixtures tend to get clogged with enough time.
When it comes to your shower, chances are the drain is clogged because of all the soap scum and hair that you rinse down the drain. Even if you aren’t shaving in the shower, chances are you’re losing enough hair to help clog the drain. The best way to avoid this is to get a hair catcher to put over the drain and empty it out every few days.
Bathroom sinks are another common cause for drain cleaning service calls. As far as what causes clogs in bathroom sinks, it’s the same thing as the shower for the most part. The one big difference is that a lot of people shave in the sink so they can see what they’re doing in the mirror. Because of this, sinks tend to clog a lot faster. If you’re going to shave in your bathroom sink, use a bag or something to catch the hair instead of rinsing it down the drain.
The Drain Experts
Taking good care of your drains goes a long way toward preventing clogs, but you can’t avoid them completely. With enough time, every drain will start to slow down a bit as grime builds up inside.
While clogs and slow drains are common, taking care of them is important. Fortunately, Paul Bunyan Plumbing & Drains of Minneapolis, MN, has you covered. Whether you need a new fixture or a drain cleaning service, give Paul Bunyan Plumbing & Drains a call at (952) 209-9330 today.
