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8 Drain Cleaning Tips from Plumbing Pros

November 14, 2016

Drain cleaning is a normal part of being a responsible homeowner. In fact, itโ€™s probably one of the most important things you can do when maintaining your homeโ€™s plumbing system. Allowing any clog to persist in your plumbing system can result in drastic consequences. You may encounter higher utility costs, poor levels of sanitation, and bad sewer odors. Worse, you will lose access to essential plumbing fixtures like toilets and showers. Considering how often you use these fixtures on a daily basis, it will be impossible to live in your home conveniently. The clogs may also hinder their efficiency and shorten their lifespan, meaning you will have to potentially spend thousands of dollars on plumbing repair and eventual replacement.

If any of these problems sound worrying to youโ€“and they shouldโ€“you need to take a proactive approach to fix drain clogs so you can live an easier life in your home this season. Even if you sense the slightest hint of a drain problem, you make the effort to inspect the problem. With the state of your plumbing fixtures at risk, taking a few simple actions can change your plumbing system for the better.

Why Should You Hire a Professional Plumber Like T.Webber?

You may not have the right tools and experience of a licensed plumber, but you can certainly find that at T.Webber if you call us for service. Our highly-effective drain cleaning will ensure any clogs are removed as soon as possible. We can offer a wide range of effective cleaning solutions including camera inspection and high-pressure water jetting. Even if you experience a drain clog completely out of nowhere, we can provide emergency plumbing services to save your plumbing system just in time. Our plumbers know how to provide fast yet highly-effective service that will leave you feeling 100% satisfied. With our help, you will experience greater savings on utility bills, improved fixture efficiency, and a higher level of convenience made possible when your plumbing system remains clog-free. A call to T.Webber is the best way to make your life easier.

8 Helpful Drain Cleaning Tips

If you want to know how you can play a role in drain cleaning, please take note of these 8 tips so you know what to do when a clog first forms:

  1. Baking Soda and Vinegar: The mixture of baking soda and vinegar will prove to be a miracle substance when it comes to fixing drain clogs. One cup of vinegar and a ยฝ cup of baking soda can be mixed together and poured down the drain, which will have a fizzy, eruptive effect that will push any blockage up and out. You can also pour boiling hot water down the drain to loosen up any substances, especially oil and grease buildup.
  2. Keep Grease and Oil Away: And speaking of oil and grease buildup, it is one of the worst things you can ever put down the drain. Oil and grease eventually harden and make passage through the drainage pipe impossible. A more effective way of discarding excess grease or cooking oil would be to first store it in a container before discarding it in the regular garbage.
  3. Use a Drain Snake: Though you absolutely should keep a plunger handy, a drain snake will break up any clog that a plunger will not be able to reach and can instead fit into the smaller, hard-to-reach areas of your drains. However, please remember to use drain snakes carefully. They can actually puncture holes in older, rusty drainage pipes.
  4. Bent Wire Hangers: If you have a wire coat hanger to spare, you can actually use it as a drain cleaning tool. A bent wire hanger will work similarly to a drain snake, where it can reach substances in areas a plunger cannot reach. Also like drain snakes, you need to be careful when applying it, or else it may result in damage to your pipes.
  5. Invest in Strainers: When you consider just how many different materials your kitchen and sink drains are constantly dealing with, the addition of a strainer to your kitchen and bath drains may prove a huge relief. Strainers will work to keep any prime clogging material out. These strainers will become blocked themselves, but all you need to do is empty them periodically to ensure they do their job effectively.
  6. Avoid Chemical Drain Cleaners: Itโ€™s easy to be fooled by slickly-produced commercials making chemical drain cleaning solutions look like the best way to clean your drain, but it is better to use them sparingly, or not at all. They can actually damage your drainage pipes in the long-term and leave you spending money on pipe repair.
  7. Pour Dish Detergent Down a Toilet:You need to take any steps necessary to prevent toilet overflows, and dish detergent may prove the perfect solution. Pour a ยฝ cup of detergent down the toilet bowl and allow it to sit for 20 to 30 minutes. After waiting long enough, you should also pour boiled hot water down the drain to send the source of clogging up and out.
  8. Call T.Webber for Annual Maintenance: You should make it a point to call T.Webber for annual drain maintenance so you can guarantee highly-efficient, uninterrupted plumbing for the next 12 months. We can carefully inspect your system, ensuring any problems looming on the horizon will be stopped from growing much worse.

Don't Wait Until It's Too Late - Schedule Your Drain Cleaning Service Today

Contact T.Webber today if you want to learn more on how you can stop clogs once and for all with effective drain cleaning!

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