We can all agree that there is absolutely nothing worse than having a clogged toilet. Any clog at all is an annoyance that we usually try and fix immediately, trying all of our self taught home remedies for clogged drains that we know, using any makeshift tool we can find around the house.
We’ve all heard that gurgling sound like our kitchen sink has a sore throat. This is a sign that the drains in your home are in need of deep cleaning. Before we can get to the cleaning, we have to know how to clear pipe blockage and remove the clog. A clog in the kitchen sink is a different type of clog than the one that happens in the bathroom toilet and will require different tools and methods in order to solve the plumbing issue.
All the same, we play Mr. or Mrs. fix it, summoning the little plumber we think we have inside us. Want to know a secret? The truth is, we are capable of unclogging, cleaning and maintaining any drain in our homes without the added expense of a professional plumber. The solution is just to follow the step by step clogged drain home remedy and your water will be back to flowing in no time.
From the kitchen to the bathroom, the garage and laundry room, there's not many rooms in your home that don't have drains. Where there are drains, there are clogs and where there are clogs, drain cleaner like Liquid Plumr follow not too far behind. The problem is some drain cleaner products can do more damage than good to the pipes in your plumbing system and it is not one drain cleaner suits all. Don't worry, there are remedies for clogged drains that can save you from having to buy chemical drain cleaners like Liquid Plumr, so you can save your money.
Let’s tackle the slow drains in our bathrooms. What are some of the common causes of clogs in our bathroom sinks, toilets, showers and tubs? What type of drain cleaner can we use and what tools are recommended to use to clear clogs.
We've all tried flushing the toilet and instead of the usual spiral of water pushing the toilet paper and waste down the drain, we see no movement or worse, the water begins to rise. The bad yet obvious news is, you have a clogged toilet and flushing, though normally the answer, is no longer helping. If the water has risen to the top or even overflowed, it is much too late by this point to use a plunger. You might want to hold off on calling the plumber as there are much more effective ways on how to get a toilet unclogged and with regular maintenance can keep those clogs from recurring.
Here's what the professionals like Mr. Rooter Plumber say are the most common causes of a clogged toilet. There are more obvious causes like excessive toilet paper and foreign objects and there are also causes that are lesser known.
Simply put, hard water is a high concentration of minerals like dissolved calcium and magnesium in your water supply. The problem with hard water is that once these minerals calcify (harden), they form a white substance in the toilet drain pipes that are very difficult to remove. This causes the blockages that normal waste cannot flow through that leads to a clogged toilet.
The best known remedies for getting rid of hard water clogs are not so much tools than they are every day house hold items like vinegar:
You can use many different types of vinegar: white vinegar, apple cider vinegar or whatever you have on hand. If these types do not get the job done, look into purchasing cleaning vinegar, as it is more acidic and will break down the calcium and lime deposits much faster.
As for the stains you can't see like those that build up in the pipes of your toilet, the vinegar method is a bit different but still all natural and the best toilet unclogger.
There are a multitude of reasons why the pipes in your drain line deteriorate. The use of harsh chemicals found in your everyday drain cleaners like Liquid Plumr overtime will destroy your pipes. They can crack, break and even collapse due to heavy rainfall, a drastic change in temperature, regular wear and tear or just simply having old pipes. Once there's a break, it will cause your toilet's drain to slow down and clog.
This is a bit less common and is well outside the scope of anything you can do at home. This would be the time to call a company for professional services reach out to a professional as you will most likely need a repair or replacement of the pipe in your toilet if it damaged. Located in the Connecticut area and in need of drain cleaning, repair or replacement? Call the most reliable company; All Things Sewer & Drain Care & Power Washing for a free estimate.
This might be the number one reason most people have or feel the need to call a professional plumber. We know that accidents do happen and sometimes things like your child flushing their toys for fun or something falling into the toilet and getting flushed unknowingly can and does cause the clog in your toilet.
However, It isn't only the kids at fault because there are also many adults who are flushing a lot of objects that should not be flushed. For instance: baby wipes, feminine hygiene products, cotton balls, other paper products like paper towels and even hair. These are all products that should be thrown away.
This may not come as a surprise, but there is such a thing as using too much toilet paper. Some of the most stubborn clogs are caused by excessive use of toilet paper. This is an item that can and should go down the toilet, but too much of it will definitely clog your toilet drain.
A plunger may not always get the toilet unclogged but here is a remedy with a few simple steps you can try before calling a professional plumber.
Hand in hand with your toilet is your bathroom sink. We practice a lot of the same daily activities in our tubs and showers as we do in our sinks. We wash our hands and face and brush our teeth daily. Taking a shower after a muddy soccer or football game, washing your hair, scrubbing your feet. All of these regular activities can contribute to very tough clogs to the drains in your shower.
Our bathroom sinks sometimes go through the worst of it when it comes to clogs and there's almost nothing that hasn't fallen down the shower or tub drain. Just because it washes away, doesn't mean it's gone for good. There is a soap designed to clean many things. We have soap for the teeth: toothpaste, soap for the face and body, and even scrubs. All that we wash away gets us clean but leads to something else getting dirty. Let's just think about all the things that go down our shower and bathroom sink drains:
Is your shower drain clogged with hair? Quite possibly. You probably never knew you had so much hair until the day you have to clean the bathtub drain. Even if you do not brush your hair everyday, your hair falls out and sometimes in your bathroom sink. Once you've washed your hair, how do you get hair out of the drain? We usually never even think twice about opening the water and washing the strands of hair we shed down the drain but there is a way to stop hair from going down the drain. You can use a hair catcher. This was invented for exactly the purpose of minimizing the hair that falls down the drain.
I am sure you you have seen the white residue that accumulates on your shower walls. After a deep clean, you are satisfied that you have washed away all the soap scum but your drains are paying the price. As it washes away, it solidifies and sticks on to the sides of the pipes causing a blockage.
When you get home from work, if the first place you go isn't your bathroom, it is most likely your kitchen. These two rooms have a common interest. They both have sinks where you can and most often wash your hands. Studies even show that a person typically spends anywhere from 30 minutes to a 2 hours at the kitchen sink, probably more during the holidays or if you are a fan of entertaining.
From the potato peels, the fried chicken oil and bacon grease during the meal prep to all the food that doesn't get scraped off the plate into the garbage and finds it's way down the garbage disposal. You can thank the following foods and ingredients for the clogged drains in your kitchen:
Just because it is liquid when you are pouring it down the drain, doesn't mean it stays that way. Ever come back home to a pan of bacon fat you left on the stove since breakfast? It looks different because when these liquids cool down, they harden causing your kitchen sink to clog.
Believe it or not, there are foods that should not go down the garbage disposal. Stringy foods like celery can ruin the blades of your garbage disposal.
Soap Scum- Where ever you wash your hands, normally there is some sort of soap and many soaps are made from fat. You may be getting clean, but the fat from the soaps coupled with the oil and other food scraps builds up over time leaving your drains clogged.
Drain cleaning can be hard but with the right drain cleaners and your commitment to following the Do's and Don'ts of regular maintenance, you can have the clean drains you always dreamed of. You can say goodbye to stubborn clogs as a little everyday will go a long way to having less to clean at the end of the month.
The plunger and toilet brush are more than bathroom accessories and there's a good reason they are permanent fixtures in your bathroom. A drain snake is the perfect plumbing tool that will almost always unclog your sink but also your tub.
Pouring oil, grease, fat and soap down any drain is a sure fire way to start a clog and damage your pipe. They need to be poured into a disposable container and thrown out. Scraping the majority of the food into the garbage disposal or garbage and doing a proper rinse of the plates, pots and pans before putting it into the dishwasher can save you from thinking you have to replace it.
It's not so much about using chemicals to clean like a pro but about what you use, how you use it and most importantly how often you clean. You too can have clean drains using boiling water, baking soda and vinegar, the power house drain cleaning trio that you didn't even know your drain needed.