{"id":73222,"date":"2024-07-12T17:24:49","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T10:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/?p=73222"},"modified":"2024-07-12T17:24:49","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T10:24:49","slug":"the-dos-and-donts-for-clear-drains-that-every-homeowner-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/the-dos-and-donts-for-clear-drains-that-every-homeowner-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"The Do&rsquo;s and Don&rsquo;ts for Clear Drains That Every Homeowner Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The Don&rsquo;ts\n</h2><p>The number one cause of clogged drains is grease. Body oils, food oils, oils from soaps and shampoos &ndash; these all cool and harden as they enter your drains and gradually build up until you have a badly clogged drain.\n</p><p>When you add hair or other food particles to the mix &ndash; well, you get the picture.\n<figure id='\"attachment_73224\"' aria-describedby='\"caption-attachment-73224\"' style='\"width:' class='\"wp-caption' alignnone><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-73224 src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/07%5C/clear-drain.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"clear' drain width='\"1280\"' height='\"960\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/clear-drain.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'><figcaption id='\"caption-attachment-73224\"' class='\"wp-caption-text\"'>Image: Pixabay\n<p>With that said, here are 10 other items you should never put down your drains:\n</p><ul>\n<li>Flour\u2060 &ndash; water and flour make clumps.\n</li><li>Bones\u2060 &ndash; most disposals don&rsquo;t handle bones well, and the shards can more easily stick to already coated drains, and then stop other items from getting through.\n</li><li>Rice\u2060 &ndash; rice expands and contracts based on the amount of water. It is also starchy, and this starch will coat your pipes.\n</li><li>Coffee Grounds\u2060 &ndash; coffee grounds do not dissolve or break down and easily stick to the buildup in pipes and create sludge.\n</li><li>Mashed Potatoes (starchy foods)\u2060 &ndash; like rice, starch forms a sticky goo as it breaks down.\n</li><li>Banana Peels\u2060 &ndash; the fibrous threads in banana peels do not break down quickly and can form a sort of netting when it sticks to your pipes.\n</li><li>Fibrous Vegetables (like celery, broccoli, and asparagus)\u2060 &ndash; the fibers in vegetables are good for helping clean out your own &ldquo;pipes&rdquo; but work against you in your plumbing.\n</li><li>Eggshells &ndash; eggshells have a membrane that sticks to everything in your pipes, and the tiny shell fragments don&rsquo;t break down, instead they harden and form a block. Plus, the shells have dull disposal blades.\n</li><li>Medicine\u2060 &ndash; medicine won&rsquo;t cause clogs unless they are oil based (like vitamin E), but they do get into the water system.\n</li><li>Gasoline &ndash; if gasoline is poured down the drain, it can ignite and cause an explosion, not to mention contaminate our waters.\n\n<h2>The Do&rsquo;s\n</h2><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' wp-image-73225 size-full src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/07%5C/clear-drain3.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"clear' drain3 width='\"1200\"' height='\"600\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/clear-drain3.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>So other than dishwater, what can you put in your drains?\n</p><ul>\n<li>If you want to sharpen your disposal blades, put ice in your drain and run the unit.\n</li><li>To prevent future clogs, add an eco-friendly enzyme treatment that will organically eat away at the buildup in your pipes.\n</li><li>Try not to use harsh chemicals like bleach or chemical drain cleaners, which can soften PVC pipes and damage older plumbing.\n</li><li>To help keep drains running, flush them for about 10 seconds after each use to make sure any loose materials are washed away. You can also add a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water to your drain weekly to keep things flowing.\n\n<h2>When It&rsquo;s Not Your Drain\n<figure id='\"attachment_73223\"' aria-describedby='\"caption-attachment-73223\"' style='\"width:' class='\"wp-caption' alignnone><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-73223 src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/07%5C/clear-drain-2.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"1280\"' height='\"853\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/clear-drain-2.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'><figcaption id='\"caption-attachment-73223\"' class='\"wp-caption-text\"'>Image: Pixabay\n<p>If you find that all of your sinks, showers, tubs, and toilets are not draining well, the problem is likely not in your pipes but in your sewer line. Calling in a plumber to diagnose exactly what is going on is the smartest move if this happens.\n</p><p>Sources: BobVila.com, familyhandyman.com, apartmenttherapy.com\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"</p><p>The Don&rsquo;ts The number one cause of clogged drains is grease. Body oils, food oils, oils from soaps and shampoos &ndash; these all cool and harden as they enter your drains and gradually build up until you have a badly clogged drain. When you add hair or other food particles to the mix &ndash; well, &hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":73226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[410],"tags":[222,1174,1175,26,1176],"class_list":["post-73222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-hacks","tag-cleaning","tag-drain","tag-home-tip","tag-kitchen","tag-life-hack"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73227,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73222\/revisions\/73227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}</p></figcaption></figure></h2></li></ul></li></ul></figcaption></figure></p>