3/7
Plumbers Don’t Use Harsh Chemicals in Drains
If you routinely pour a store-bought drain cleaner down the sink to do away with clogs, stop immediately. These cleaners are not just ineffective, they are caustic, says Terry O’Shea, a master plumber with Roto-Rooter in the New York City area. O’Shea says chemical drain cleaners can burn your pipes and your skin, if you touch them.
And the claims that these cleaners dissolve hair? Nope.
“It (might) burn away some of the hair and gunk … but at the end of the day it is not going to stop that buildup from reoccurring,” Mulder says. “It is just (pushing) down to where the chemical didn’t reach.”
What should you do about clogs? Plumber-recommended enzymatic drain cleaners (Mr. Rooter and Roto Rooter each have their own brands) are usually safe, or you can try a drain auger (sometimes called a plumbing snake), O’Shea says. Don’t give in to the temptation to use a hanger for the job though, says Mulder. Anything rigid can damage the pipe and cause a whole slew of issues, like leaks, broken seals, bad smells and bug infestations (yuck!).
4/7
Plumbers Don’t Pour Grease Down the Drain
You just cooked some bacon and need to get rid of the grease. You have a few options, but pouring it down the kitchen sink is not one of them, says Mulder.
Initially, the grease will stick to the walls of your pipes and start clogging your drain. Eventually, some of that grease will make it to the sewer, where it mixes with all the other raw sewage (along with those baby wipes that should have been put in the trash). The result? A disgusting sewer-damaging blob called a fatberg. Last year, waste treatment officials in England discovered a fatberg that was more than 200 feet long.
We know you don’t want to contribute to such a monstrosity. Instead, Mulder advises scraping congealed grease into the garbage can, or pouring warm grease into a can or jar to throw away later.
5/7
Plumbers Don’t Take the Term ‘Garbage Disposal’ Literally
Despite the name, your sink’s garbage disposal is not meant to dispose of garbage, says Mulder. Small scraps of certain types of food (and the milk at the bottom of your cereal bowl) are OK. But eggshells, hunks of meat and coffee grounds, among other things, should not go down your garbage disposal.
“(These items) are overworking the unit, or overheating it,” Mulder says. If you do this continually, Mulder says, it will damage and ultimately ruin the garbage disposal.
And that’s not the only thing. Since the disposal isn’t designed to break down the food, that leftover chicken will rot in your pipes. Before long, you’ll have a unpleasant odor and a dirty job to deal with. Save yourself the trouble and expense by composting or throwing away food scraps.
