Pro Tip: How to Avoid Clogged Drains

We’ve all heard the horror stories. Your shower drain is clogged and the hair creature you pull out of your drain is like something out of a Stephen King movie. Absolutely terrifying.

So – are you interested in learning how to avoid pulling a small-child-sized hair ball out of your drain? We thought so. And while we’re at it, let’s talk preventing kitchen drain clogs too.

Avoiding Bathroom Drain Clogs

Showers, toilets, sinks—they all have drains that are susceptible to clogs.

Showers

The best thing you can do is to place a mesh screen on top of your shower drain to catch stray hairs that fall off when you shampoo. 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 a gross hair ball clogging your drain.

Alternatively – brushing your hair before you shower removes loose hairs that would have ended up in your drain.

Toilets

Don’t think of your toilet as trash can. Flushing down too much thick paper can result in a clogged toilet or worse—a clogged plumbing system.

Check out our toilet plunger tips to make sure you use the right tool for the clog.

Sinks

Hair, soap scum, toothpaste and other common bathroom items often cause clogs in bathroom sinks. To prevent sink clogs, pull out your drain stopper once a week and remove any buildups then give your sink a nice hard scrub.

If your bathroom sink does end up clogged, you can use a shop vac to clear it right up.

Avoiding Kitchen Drain Clogs

Ok – we’re mainly talking about kitchen sinks here. Depending on whether you have a garbage disposal, you have different methods to keep your drain from becoming clogged.

Sinks Without Disposals

Make sure to use a drain strainer to keep large chunks of food from going down your drain. It seems obvious, but we see a lot of clogs that could’ve been avoided simply by stopping food from draining.

Pour boiling water down your sink drain once a week to melt 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.

Check out our proper garbage disposal care tip for more information.

As always – if you have a drain you can’t solve, the expert plumbers at Superior Drain are here to help. Request an appointment today to have clog free drains tomorrow!