Blog

How to Prevent Clogged Drains in your Jasper or Evanston Home

• “Can it” with the grease. Grease from gravy or cooking fat is the absolute worst thing to pour down your drains. It’s like pouring liquid concrete, because sooner or later it’s going to harden and set up a formidable blockade. Instead, pour grease into a coffee can or similar container and throw it out with the trash.

• Be careful what you feed your disposal. To avoid rendering your garbage disposal useless, don’t feed it stuff it can’t grind up. That includes fibrous foods such as onion skins, celery, and lettuce. They don`t much care for potato skins either.

• Pour on the cold water. Run cold water while you’re grinding up food in your disposal and keep it running for about a minute after you shut the disposal off. Water in general helps to flush your drain line, and cold water in particular keeps grease from adhering to your pipes where it can eventually harden and become much more difficult to remove.

• Stop the stoppers from getting clogged. Once a week, remove all sink and pop-up stoppers, then give them a thorough cleaning. Stoppers are to hair, soap and toothpaste and what casinos are to gamblers: known gathering places!

• What to flush and what not to flush. Toilet and tissue paper are just about the only things you want to flush down your toilets. Toys, paper towel, dad’s slippers, and yesterday’s newspaper are all on the “better not” list. Keep a small trash basket handy near your toilets to encourage proper disposal.

• Read the warning signs, and act accordingly. If your toilet, tub, or sink water is taking longer to drain than usual, now’s the time to act. For best results, pour the recommended amount of an organic liquid drain cleaner down the problem drain. Unlike supermarket varieties, these won’t cause any harm to the environment and they actually work better than chemically-loaded alternatives.