Blocked Drains: Top 10 Causes
Blocked drains do happen from time to time, but there are simple things you can do to avoid having to call Rydon out. Here are the top ten things that can cause blocked drains:
1. Fat. You might have seen stories in the news about fatbergs. Quite often though, the fat doesn’t make it to the sewer; it sticks to the edges of the drains of your home instead and slowly builds up until it’s blocking the path of everything else. Things like greasy frying pans and roasting tins should always be scraped out as much as possible before being put into the sink or dishwasher.
2. Baby Wipes. Baby wipes are disposable, and they might be used to wipe up things you’d rather flush down the toilet, but they are a nightmare for drains. Invest in a lidded bin for disposing of baby wipes, and do your drains a favour!
3. Hair. We’re fairly sure you already know about this one, as the clogging can often happen at the plug hole of your shower or bath. If you have long hair, brush it before getting into the shower so as to remove any loose hairs before they reach the plug hole. Invest in some form of hair catcher for your plug hole too; it could save you a fortune down the line.
4. Food Scraps. We’re not accusing you of shoving all of your food waste down the sink; that would be ridiculous (though we have seen it happen), but it doesn’t take much to clog a drain, and the odd piece of pasta here and there can do more damage than you might think.
5. Expensive Toilet Paper. Yes, we know it looks cute and luxurious with the pictures of fluffy animals on it, thick 4-ply sheets. But it also means you end up putting twice as much paper down your drain as you really need.
6. Bath Salts. You might think that’s ridiculous; the whole point of bath salts and bath bombs is that they dissolve in your bath, right? Well, yes – but many of them don’t actually completely dissolve.
7. Children’s Toys. We don’t mean the great big train set you bought little Jimmy for Christmas, instead it’s the smaller, breakable pieces of toy that might come off in the bath or while your child is playing in the sink.
8. Coffee. Instant coffee dissolves completely in your morning cuppa, but ground coffee doesn’t – and it’s a real nuisance to try and scoop out of a coffee pot and into the bin. If you use ground coffee rather than instant, make sure you get all of your grounds into the bin using a spoon or kitchen roll to help.
9. Cotton Buds. We don’t know what makes people think a plastic stick with cotton wool on either end belongs down the drain, but it happens all the time.
10. Soap. With a bar of soap you only use the amount of soap you need, but with liquid soap we often end up using more. Soap on its own won’t do much damage – but combined with all the other nasties that will be lurking in a drain, it can act as a glue to hold them all together.
A blocked drain can be a nuisance, especially if it leads to water damage in your home. When you’re struggling with baths and sinks that are slow to empty, get them seen to sooner rather than later.