How To Avoid Clogged Drains This Fall

With fall quickly approaching, followed by the holiday season, it’s the perfect time to make sure your drains are in tip-top shape going into the busy season ahead. Instead of ignoring your plumbing until something goes wrong, take a moment to review the following tips on how to avoid clogged drains throughout your home.

Avoiding Bathroom Drain Clogs

• Showers

The best thing you can do to avoid standing in a puddle is to place a mesh screen on top of your shower drain to catch stray hairs that fall off when you shampoo – you can find these inexpensively on Amazon and other stores. You may have to clean it out a lot depending on how much you shed during your shower. But it’s worth it when you consider the alternative—standing in three inches of shower water and end up with a gross hairball clogging your drain.

• You can also consider brushing your hair before you shower. This helps remove loose hairs that would have ended up in your drain.
• Toilets

Don’t think of your toilet as a trash can. Flushing down too much thick paper, wipes and other items can result in a clogged toilet or worse—a clogged plumbing system. Anything other than toilet paper should be avoided!

Avoiding Kitchen Drain Clogs

Fall and the holiday season typically result in an increase in trying out new seasonal recipes and cooking for larger groups of people. Making your kitchen drain even more at risk for a nasty clog. Depending on whether you have a garbage disposal or not, you have a few different methods for avoiding clogged drains in your kitchen.

• Sinks Without Disposals

For sinks without a garbage disposal, make sure to use a drain strainer to keep large chunks of food from going down your drain. It seems obvious, but a lot of clogs could be avoided simply by stopping food from draining.

You can also pour boiling water down your sink drain once a week to melt any fat and grease that may be lodged in there, preventing free water flow.

• Sinks With Disposals

Avoid putting non-food items, fibrous foods, grease and oil, bones, and large amounts of pasta down your garbage disposal. Remember, when in doubt – throw it away.

You can also add ice cubes to your disposal once a month and run your disposal to sharpen your blades. Another option for clearing your disposal is using grease-cutting dish soap, like Dawn! Pour a quarter cup of grease-cutting dish soap down your drain and let it sit for 15 minutes before running cold water. This will help clear hardened grease and grime and remove any lingering odor..

Get expert help with any of your plumbing needs from our experienced technicians. We’re licensed, insured, and trusted by customers across Durham, Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, and the surrounding communities for getting the job done RIGHT. Contact our Durham plumbers today at 919-383-7000!