Tips from Your New Orleans Drain Cleaning Service Provider
There’s nothing more annoying than having to wait an eternity for your sink or shower to drain, but that’s a very real possibility if you don’t take good care of your drains. Pipes tend to get pretty dirty between all the soap, hair and other debris they have to deal with, so they need to be cleaned. However, cleaning the drains in your New Orleanshome the wrong way could be worse than not doing it at all. If you want to avoid paying for a drain cleaning service, here’s what you can do to prevent and fix slow-draining fixtures.
Clogs: The Bottom Line
If you’ve got a sink or shower draining slow, there’s almost definitely a clog in the drain pipe somewhere. Pipes that run near trees outside may have roots growing into them that are causing the clog, but that’s significantly rarer.
The good news is, drain clogs aren’t a huge problem. Not only are they generally fairly easy to get rid of, there are also tons of things you can do to avoid calling a drain cleaning service as often. The trick is knowing what to avoid putting down your drains and understanding how you can help keep them clean with a little maintenance.
Use the Right Drain Cleaners
Using drain cleaners is one of the best ways to avoid having to call a drain cleaning service, but all drain cleaners aren’t made equal. Making sure you’re using the right drain cleaners for your home not only helps keep clogs away, it also prevents damage to your pipes.
A lot of people use drain cleaners that work because of harsh chemicals because they’re popular. However, plumbers recommend using an enzyme-based drain cleaner. Enzyme-based drain cleaners eat away at the buildup that causes clogs without affecting the pipes, which means you don’t have to worry about damaging them. These cleaners are affordable and easy to use, and they do a lot better job of getting clogs out than chemical-based cleaners.
The trick to substituting drain cleaners for a drain cleaning service is to use them somewhat regularly. There’s always more gunk building up in your pipes, but a little bit of enzyme-based drain cleaner can help you make sure it doesn’t get too thick.
Flush Carefully
If you’re not careful about what you’re flushing down the toilets in your New Orleans home, you could be at fault for a drain clog. While some things obviously aren’t meant to be flushed, there are some things that are a little trickier.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to flushing the wrong things is using flushable wipes. Even though these wipes are marketed as “flushable,” flushing too many of them down your toilet means you’ll eventually have to call a drain cleaning service. These wipes simply don’t break down as easily as toilet paper does in drain pipes, so they tend to get stuck and add to the buildup.
Other things you should avoid flushing include cotton swabs, cigarettes, menstrual products, diapers and dental floss. Just like flushable wipes, flushing these objects promotes buildup because they don’t break down well.
Take Care of Sinks
The quickest way to clog up a sink is to put the wrong stuff down it, but there are a lot of people who don’t know how what should and shouldn’t go down a sink. While it depends on what kind of sink you’re dealing with, it’s a good idea to be very careful of what you’re putting down your sink if you don’t want to pay for a drain cleaning service.
Kitchen sinks with garbage disposals can handle a bit more than your average sink. Despite this being the case, you don’t want to test your sink’s limit more than you have to. Even if your sink has a garbage disposal, you should throw away or compost as much food as possible if you want to prevent clogs. Dumping oil and grease down your drain is one of the easiest ways to create a massive clog because those oils will eventually solidify when they cool down.
Your bathroom sink is a little different because of what you use it for. Some of the most common clogs our drain cleaning service removes from bathroom sinks are caused by a combination of hair and soap. This is why most plumbers would advise that you use a hot bowl of water to clean your razor when you shave instead of rinsing it off in the sink.
Removing a Clog
Unfortunately, there’s always the possibility of getting a clog in your New Orleans home. The good news is, you can often unclog a drain without the help of a professional.
The first thing you should try when it comes to removing a clog is using enzyme-based drain cleaners. If you’ve got a clog that’s really slowing down your drain, it may take quite a few applications before you’re able to notice a big difference in draining speed. However, it should work with time.
Alternatively, you can shop for basic drain cleaning tools to help you get the clog out manually. Keep in mind that it’s best to call a drain cleaning service instead of using high-end snakes and augers unless you know what you’re doing since there’s a risk of damaging the pipes.
While the goal is always to prevent clogs in your drain pipes, the fact of the matter is it’s not completely avoidable. If you do have a clog, you should get it taken care of as soon as possible to prevent it from getting any worse.
Choosing a good plumber to unclog your drain is important, and bluefrog Plumbing + Drain is the easy choice. We offer professional drain cleaning service to help you get your slow-draining fixtures back to normal again. Don’t deal with clogs for longer than you have to—call bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of New Orleans at (504) 291-6121 today.
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