Plumbers see quite a bit when it comes to clogged pipes. A sink drain may have an object in t or a lot of hair and gunk. A child may attempt to flush a stuffed animal down the toilet or see what happens with that bar of soap.
There are many things that can clog a drain, which is why it is important to call for professional drain cleaning before undertaking the task yourself. You may be surprised at what is actually clogging your drain. For instance, any of the following can be found in toilets in commercial and residential bathrooms:
- Sanitary napkins – These are not flushable and will immediately clog a toilet.
- Paints and solvents – Whether it is a toilet or a sink drain, these can lead to greasy sewer pipes, which results in cleanups that are expensive and unpleasant. Not only do residential or commercial sewage systems become burdened, but local sewer departments do too.
- Medications – Medications can contribute to clogs, especially if multiple things are flushed down toilets. However, communities have been put on notice that flushing medications can cause them to enter the public drinking water supply due to water treatment plants not being able to filter out all elements of some medications.
- Diapers – Diapers are large, they absorb water, and they will instantaneously clog a toilet. It doesn’t matter how small the diaper or how well it is balled up, it will not make it all the way through the narrow passages of the pipe.
- Cotton swabs – If in the habit of flushing cotton swabs, you may be surprised to know that they can lodge in the narrowest parts of the pipe, causing toilet paper to catch and accumulate.
- Dental floss – If you flush your floss, it will gum up the pipe over time.
- Hair – If you like to flush the hair that you clean out of your hairbrush, it will accumulate and cause a clog. This is best suited for the trash can or, if cutting hair, it can be donated to organizations that make wigs.
- Egg shells – They may break easily, but that doesn’t mean they will break in the toilet or go down the kitchen sink. Instead, they’ll create a dam that catches other debris coming down the drain, resulting in a clog.
- Coffee grinds – You have probably noticed what coffee does when it gets wet and that is that it packs together. If coffee grinds are washed down a drain, they will do the same thing in the drain.
- Anti-freeze and automotive fluids – Again, this is something that can grease up drains and could degrade them.
There are times when packaging tells you whether or not something is flushable. However, you still have to use caution. For instance, flushable wipes are huge on the market. However, public sewer departments have said that these wipes have caused issues with their systems. Even those may do well to be thrown in the trash rather than flushed. If in doubt, throw it in the trash.
