What Exactly Is in My Drains? | Insight from Your Trusted Drain Cleaning Service in The Woodlands, TX

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When you need a drain cleaning service at your home in The Woodlands, TX one of the first questions you ask yourself is probably along the lines of "what the heck is down there?" Well this should give you a good idea on exactly what it could be that's down there causing you problems and why you shouldn't put them down there if you can help it.

The one that you may have heard before is to not put grease or fat remains down your drain. It's fairly common knowledge that water and oil don't mix but a lot of the time we don't think about that when disposing of that grease from cooking. What happens is that as the fat cools or ages it actually gets solid and sticks to the edge of your pipes restricting the drainage flow out of your sinks, causing you to need a drain cleaning service. Some of the better ways to avoid this is to just stop dumping it down the drain, and check with your local regulations to see what they suggest for disposal of such materials.

Another common specific kitchen item that clogs your drains is coffee grounds. If you use a permanent filter or those make your own pod for a disposable coffee machine you have probably rinsed it out in your kitchen sink. This causes all sorts of issues as the coffee breaks down and gets lodged in your pipe lining and as they break down they actually swell and become gummy in consistency leading to the clogged pipes. To make it worse they are abrasive and can contribute to damage to pipes if done enough. So not only will a plumbing service be able to help you remove them from your drain you can ensure they won't damage your pipes in the future.

If you have a sink attached food waste disposal you probably grind your waste in the little pot beneath the sink. The particle remains after going through that miniature blender will probably end up being small enough to pass through to the sewer system to be treated. If you don't have a disposal this will be the number one reason that a drain cleaning service will be called to fix a problem. Leftover food particles are quite large and can stick to almost anything including your plumbing. This means that you are taking a big risk dropping your food scraps into the sink. There are other, less harmful ways, to dispose of your food waste and if you aren't utilizing them on a normal basis you may want to do that soon so that you don't damage your pipes.

Everybody knows that toilet paper can be put in the drains but what about paper towels? Generally, you should not as they are designed to hold up more to abrasive action and not break down in contact with liquids as quickly. So, while your drain cleaning service could take care of that for you, remember that you shouldn't put it down your drains. They'll absorb more water and lead to a halt in the flow of other waste causing massive backups that need to be corrected before they cause damage to your house. The same can be said with napkins as they are also not designed to go down the drains much like paper towels.

In the bathroom you put that toilet paper down the toilet but don't put it down the sink. Another item that would likely lead to you needing a drain cleaning service are cotton balls. Sure, they're small and made from a natural material but the way they are woven together means that they stay together when made wet, causing them to be little balls of solid waste ready to stick to your pipes and cause you trouble. Considering they stay together when they are wet that's a problem because you want things that break apart when they are immersed. You wouldn't tear up your shirts into little bits and put them down the drain, so why would you do it with cotton balls made of the same material?

Now an item that is newer to the consumer market but is marketed very deceptively is the flushable wipe. Flushable wipes are one of the largest contributors to what is called "fatbergs" in municipal sewage lines, things that not even your local drain cleaning service can touch. Not only are they not breaking down like toilet paper when they get flushed they are binding to other items in the sewer system like the previously mentioned greases and fat remains. That's a problem because they have been aggressively marketed to us in The Woodlands, TX over the past decade or so as an added "clean" for us personally but it has caused drain cleaning services more headaches as they are difficult to remove in full. They do sort of break down but they don't break down enough to properly pass through a sewage treatment and become a magnet for other stuff down there.

The last item is also the one that is usually outside of our control and that is hair. The average person loses about 100 hairs a day just off the top of your head and a lot of that will end up in the drains. If you don't have preventative measures to keep it out of your drains it will stick to almost anything in the drains causing more problems that will dictate a call for a drain cleaning service. While there is not much you can do to stop the hair from coming out you should be careful with letting a lot of it fall into the drains and causing more damage. You would think it would break down as it's natural but that can take several years meaning it will stay there for a lot longer than you want. In your drains.

These reasons are why we suggest calling bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of Northwest Houston as your drain cleaning service for The Woodlands, TX. Their professional staff and distinguished service will ensure you get exactly what you pay for at a price that is reasonable. Give them a call today to see what they can do for you.