How Do You Unclog a Drain?

A clogged drain is common to most homes. No matter what you do, you are likely to have a clogged drain someday. However, how frequent it occurs is what makes the difference. But what causes the clogging of drains? Well, the build-up of debris and other foreign materials such as kids’ toys, feminine hygiene products are the major causes of clogged drains. Due to the reduced diameter of the drain pipe, the normal water flow is reduced and sometimes, it stops completely.

What’s important is how you deal with a clogged drain. First, as a homeowner, you need to have a drain maintenance guide to help keep your home clog-free. That is one of the best ways of dealing with this problem efficiently. This among other tips for unclogging a drain is what we are going to look at in this post.

Here are tips on to keep your drain pipes clean and fresh.

 

Why Should You Flush Your Drains?

Flushing your drains is one of the best hacks to keeping your home clog-free for long. However, some people ignore it, and they end up dealing with stubborn drain clogs that could have been prevented. The design of a drain is that you should not have foreign materials resting in it at any time. If that happens or you don’t flush your drain, you will give room for debris and other foreign materials such as hairballs, grease materials, etc., to build up hence clogging it. That is why it is recommended that you flush your drain regularly to keep it fresh and clean.

 

Weekly Drain Maintenance

To keep your home clog-free, you must carry out proper maintenance of your drains. Weekly drain maintenance is one of the most effective ways to prevent frequent clogs in homes. But you must do it right. There a few things that you can do to reduce possibilities of drain clogged almost to zero. Flushing the drain with hot water is of the most effective DIY tips. Boil a large pot of water, pour half of the water down the drain. Wait for five minutes for the water to dislodge foreign particles like grease, debris and pour the rest. With that, you will clear your drain as well as also prevent stubborn grease clogs from occurring.

 

Monthly Drain Maintenance

Weekly maintenance is not enough to make your drains clog-free for long. That is why you need more comprehensive drain maintenance once a month. Still stuck with a clogged drain? Get drain maintenance from a professional plumber. At least once in a month, use the enzymatic cleaners for your drain. Unlike hot water, enzyme cleaner is more powerful and can get rid of drain clogs almost permanently. These cleaners have chemicals that break down organic matters in the drain something that hot water can’t. So they offer a more effective drain maintenance treatment, and that is why you should use them once every month. To get more from these chemicals, flush hot water first.

 

Kitchen Sink Drain Maintenance

Kitchen sink drains are more likely to get clogged than toilets and shower drains. That is because of the huge number of foreign materials that goes down their drains. For a typical home in Brisbane, you have food from dishes, soap and vegetable chips finding their way into the sink. To keep sink drain fresh and clean, scrape all food from plates and cooking pots before putting them in the sink. The only thing that you should allow down your kitchen sink drain is soap and water. Another common reason why your sink is clogging now and then is your pan residue as most of them are greasy. Therefore, wipe pan residue and dispose it to the trash before putting the pan in the sink. In addition, avoid disposing of oil and grease down the kitchen drain.

 

Toilet Drain Maintenance

What really clogs the toilet drain? Well, there are only two things that you should flush down your toilet drain: waste and toilet paper. Anything else like feminine hygiene products, facial cleansing, clothes, and baby wipes will cause your toilet to clog. Even if the label says they are flushable, don’t trust them. Therefore, the first maintenance tip is knowing what to flush down your drain and what to avoid. Apart from the toilet paper, everything else should be trashed into the garbage. Do you know that if used in large amounts, toilet paper can also clog your drain? That’s true. So only use the necessary amount to keep your toilet drain clog-free.

 

Drain Shower Maintenance

Have you ever taken a shower with water hovering around your ankles? Well, that was definitely one of the most disturbing days in the bathroom. But what could have caused your drain to clog? The main cause of shower drain clogs is hair and small soap chunks. When hair combines with soap, it forms hairballs which are mostly responsible for most of the drain clogging. What some people don’t know is that drain shower clog can be prevented by installing a strainer. This is a device that will trap hair, small soap chunks and other foreign particles to keep the drain clean.

 

Drain Cleaning Tools

Our drain maintenance guide is about DIY preventative tips for a clog-free home. But if the clog eventually occurs, you should also be able to fix it. If you want to fix drain clog yourself, you need to have the right tools. There are essential drain cleaning tools that every home should have. They include wrenches, screwdrivers, snake, plunger, wire brushes and drain cleaning particles. These are six drain cleaning tools that every home in Brisbane should have if they want to fight drain clogs. With these tools, you’ll be able to handle most of the main causes of common drain clogs.

 

So if you were looking ways to unclog your drain, now you have everything you need. However, seeking a professional plumber in Brisbane is recommended to keep your drains fresh and clean. There are many plumbers in Brisbane, and LJM Plumbing is one of the top-ranked plumbing companies. Having provided plumbing services in Brisbane for almost two decades, they have earned the trust of Brisbane due to their professionalism and quality of service. Call and make an appointment if your drain is giving you problems.