How to Clean Your Drains to Prevent Clogs

When cleaning the bathroom, you most likely do not think about cleaning out the drains of your sink or bath. Although you can get by without cleaning the draining every time you clean the fixture, it is important to maintain your household drains to decrease the risk of future clogs and blockages occurring in the pipes.

If you are conscious of what you through down your drains, there is already less debris in your drains that could cause an issue. However, some ‘debris’ is unavoidable and will most likely be going down your drain on a daily basis, i.e hair, toothpaste and soap. A buildup of hair strands, soap scum, excess shampoo and blobs of toothpaste will sit on the interior walls of a drain pipe and become the foundations of a blockage is not cleaned regularly.

To ensure you never have to worry about these everyday activities contributing to your plumbing issues, here is a guide on how to maintain your drains.

Guide to Drain Maintenance

Once A Week

• If your sink has a pop‐up stopper, lift it and clean away any debris that may be around the drain opening, as well as rinse the stopper under the tap before placing it back in the drain.
• Similarly, any drain covers in other fixtures, such as your shower or bath, should be removed and cleaned. A bent wire hanger or a hair catching brush are good tools to use to clear away any hair that may have accumulated under the cover.

Once a Month

• The overflow drain of your bathtub may not be the main drain, but it should still be cleaned regularly so that it does not contribute to clogging the main drain. To clean the overflow drain, remove the front covering and clean up any debris the same way you would for the main drain. Depending on the type of overflow plate, you may need to raise the pop‐up assembly to reach the spring or rocker arm before removing any debris.

• To ensure your family is safe from germs, use a biodegradable, non-corrosive, anti-bacterial drain cleaner in all your household drains. Alternatively, use a homemade drain cleaner that will not damage the plumbing.

• In the kitchen it is important to clean the garbage disposal and remove any slime and grease that may have accumulated in the machine, so that it can perform efficiently. A disposal can be cleaned out with a brush or by allowing it to grind up a few cups of ice and some table salt. Once clean, rinse the disposal with cold water and a half of a lemon or lime to eliminate any smells from the disposal.

If you do not have the time or patience to follow all the steps in the above guide, a quick way to clean your drains is by letting the hot water run for a while after putting anything down a drain. The hot water breaks down and flushes away any debris before it can become cemented in the pipe.

There are also other ways in which the process of cleaning your drains can be made simpler. For example, you could install hair catching devices into your bathroom drains. These devices are easily placed into the opening of a drain, and aim to catch every strand of hair that falls in the drain, whilst letting the used water drain out.

However, if you are still having trouble with your drains and regularly experience clogs in your household pipes, contact Inspector Jet. We will be able to remove any clog, as well as maintain your plumbing system, so that you never have to worry about a blocked drain again.