Here's the list of 10 things you should NEVER put down your Drainage
Whether you’re cooking a meal in a hurry or trying to get rid of things you don’t need anymore, it can be tempting to use your home's sinks like bins. Some things you put down your drains can negatively impact you, the environment, and your home.
Here’s a list of 15 things you should NEVER put down the drains in your home.
1. COFFEE GROUNDS
After making a nice morning cup of coffee you might be tempted to empty the used coffee grounds down your drain, this is not a good idea as coffee grounds are not completely water-soluble meaning when they mix with butter, oil or grease from cooking that’s already coating the pipes, you’re increasing the change of your drain blocking up.
2. BUTTER AND MARGARINE
Even if they’re melted, butter and margarine can congeal inside your drains causing a build-up of water-resistant barriers over time causing a nightmare drain blockage.
3. COOKING OIL
Cooking oils like vegetable oil, coconut oil and olive oil can be a huge contributor to blockages and can mix with other debris inside your drains to create a build-up of sludge. This also includes foods such as mayonnaise, salad dressings and various sauces.
4. GREASE AND OTHER FATS
Like cooking oils, leftover fats, and grease from cooking can congeal together, blocking the drains and allowing other things to stick inside your pipes increasing the risk of a blocked drain.
5. VEGETABLE STICKERS
Those little stickers on your produce may seem harmless but can cause big problems if they go down your drains. They may not seem like it, but even the tiniest bit of glue that’s on the stickers can be enough to cause them to stick inside your pipes.
6. PAPER TOWELS & COTTON BALLS
Just because some paper towels and cotton balls are biodegradable doesn’t mean they’ll dissolve into nothing in your drains instantly. Paper towels and cotton balls are absorbent by design, which makes them the perfect culprit to block up your drains. If you’re using paper towels or cotton balls, make sure you dispose of them in a bin rather than down a drain when you’re done! At Stillorgan Drain Cleaning, we recommend switching from paper towels to cloth towels, especially in your kitchen where we all tend to use a lot of paper towels in a short amount of time.
7. CONDOMS
We wish we didn’t have to bring this one up but sadly it must be done. We’ve had hundreds of jobs where customers had a blocked drain and the culprit was, you guessed it, a condom. Seeing as condoms are made of rubber, they’re not biodegradable and they don’t dissolve in water. If a condom somehow manages to make its way through your pipes without causing a blockage, it’ll most likely end up floating around in the water supply somewhere which I’m sure nobody wants.
8. FEMININE SANITARY PRODUCT
As with condoms, this should go without saying but unfortunately there are still people debating over whether feminine sanitary products are safe to flush down your toilet. Some people and corporations claim that you can flush your tampons and that it’s more sanitary, but any drain technician or plumber will tell you the opposite. Feminine products are made to absorb large amounts of water, causing them to swell up. You can imagine what would happen if you were to flush a tampon down the toilet, it would absorb as much water as possible causing it to swell up and create a massive blockage in your drains. All feminine sanitary products should be wrapped up and disposed of in a bin!
9. COOKED/UNCOOKED RICE
You should be careful when dealing with rice while cooking, although grains of rice are tiny, they absorb water and swell up which again, could cause blockages. Ensure that you’re using the correct equipment to drain/rinse rice before/after cooking it to ensure no grains fall down your drains!
10. MEDICINE
Flushing your unused/old medicine may not seem like a huge deal as they won’t block your drains, but nobody wants their water supply contaminated with all kinds of medications. In 2002 a study was done in the United States on 139 streams over 30 separate states. The studies goal was to identify chemicals in the water supply. 80% of the streams tested had chemicals in them that they were looking for and the cause was medicine being flushed down toilets.
Everyone makes mistakes, especially if you’re cooking in a hurry or just not thinking, you might find yourself throwing one of the above items into your toilet/sink. If you think you might have a blocked drain, Stillorgan Drain Cleaning are here to help 24/7. We’re one call away from being at your house within 90 minutes! Call the office today at 086 107 2329 to speak to one of our friendly staff and get booked in!