No matter what season it is, the clogging of your home’s drains will always be an issue. Even if you’ve never experienced disastrous plumbing problems, chances are you’ve been the victim of a clogged toilet the day guests arrive or a bathtub whose drain has been gradually getting slower.

Here are a few simple solutions to prevent major clogs for each drain in your home.

1. Kitchen and Household Sinks – That darn kitchen sink clogs up out of nowhere. You’d think it would have good sense to get stopped on a day when there isn’t a mountain of dishes that need to be washed. Of course, sinks don’t pay attention to the list of things on your schedule, so it’s best to prevent that clog before it happens. The solution is simple: be careful about what you put down the drain. Avoid pouring any cooking grease, heavy starches, or coffee grinds down the drain for kitchen sinks. It’s always best to discard all three substances in the trash! For both kitchen and bathroom sinks, you can put a handful of baking soda down the drains, followed by hot water, or pour a cup of vinegar down and let it sit for thirty minutes, wash it down with hot water. Both of these techniques are helpful preventative measures to take since baking soda and vinegar are both powerful cleaning agents.
2. Bathtub Drains – Since bathtubs get clogged more gradually, most people don’t notice until their standing in several inches of water while taking their shower. Then comes the task of unclogging that tub drain, and the hair you pull out of that dark hole is like something straight out of a horror movie! There’s no one who doesn’t want to avoid this traumatic experience, so to keep hair and dirt from clogging up that tub, use a drain cover to keep things out, and pour some kind of drain-clearing substance through the pipes about once a month.
3. Toilets – If a clogged toilet hasn’t happened to you yet, it’s usually only a matter of time. Toilets rarely give any sign that they will back up, so it’s better to start taking precautions to avoid this at all costs! One of the simplest ways to prevent clogs is to switch to thinner toilet paper. If you can deal with the thinner brand, it is far easier to break up in the drains than the plush TP that most people purchase. Consider only using the good stuff for special occasions where guests are being entertained. Unfortunately, using an unclogging substance such as Drano has been known to cause damage to the toilet pipes, so when you notice that your toilet is flushing slowly or weakly, plunge it! Even if there is no clog at the moment, chances are, there is one brewing, so it’s best to address a slow drain before it becomes a clogged one!

As always, as helpful as these simple tips can be, we know that there will be times when something goes awry, and the magic cures don’t do the trick. When those times arrive, F.H. Furr Plumbing, Heating And Air Conditioning is trained to manage all clogged pipe issues, and our knowledgeable plumbers will be more than happy to assist you with all of your plumbing needs! And has been serving the Northern Virginia area for over 30 years.