Chemical Drain Cleaner Issues and Alternatives, Part 2

In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the issues posed by chemical drain cleaners. While these products are advertised to clean out drain clogs and blockages, they often create more issues than they solve, including pipe damage, breathing hazards and several others.

At Action Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric, we’re here to provide not only a detailed range of drain cleaning services for any tough clogs or blockages that arise within your plumbing, but also tips on how to handle minor clogs properly from a DIY perspective. Today’s part two of our series will cover some of these DIY methods, plus tools available for tougher clogs, how our team will help in these cases, and some basic tips on items to avoid putting down drains to help limit the risk of a drain clog to begin with.

DIY Methods for Minor Clogs

Rather than using chemical drain cleaners that might damage your pipes or cause other issues, there are a couple simple solutions to use for minor drain clogs you need to clear:

• Hot water: Find the largest pot you have in your home and fill it with hot water – not quite boiling, but very hot. Then pour this entire put down the drain that’s giving you problems. From here, follow this up with some basic cold water (you don’t need to fill the entire pot again necessarily) to flush out any clogs your hot water just helped loosen or melt.
• Vinegar and baking soda: Arrange half a cup of vinegar and half a cup of baking soda, then pour the latter down the drain. Follow that up with the half-cup of vinegar, then plug the drain in question and let it sit overnight. In the morning, flush the drain with hot water.
• Plunger: For smaller clogs, there are several plunger types that do well. The most well-known here is the cup plunger.

Larger Clog Cleaning Methods

If you’re having issues with a significant drain clog, it might be time to call our pros for assistance. We offer a wide range of services here, from identifying the cause of your blockage to using modern hydro-jetting technology to clear major clogs. This technology utilizes high-speed and high-pressure water flow to blast out clogs like grease, sand, silt and other sediments. In rarer cases, items like snakes or augers may be used for significant clogs.

Drain Item Avoidance

To avoid many of these risks altogether, only approved items should be flushed down drains. In the case of toilets, this means nothing but proper toilet paper and human waste; other drains have similar limitations. Some items that should never be put down the drain include:

• Grease, oil or fats from cooking
• Any significant food debris, such as pasta, rice, eggshells, bones or stringy, fibrous foods
• Feminine products like sanitary napkins
• Coffee grounds
• “Flushable” wipes (many are not what they claim)
• Hair
• Paper towels or tissues

For more on how to remedy drain clogs without harmful chemicals, or to learn about any of our plumbing or HVAC services, speak to the staff at Action Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric today.