The Most Likely Causes Of A Clogged Drain
The common causes of a clogged drain are somewhat different, depending on whether you are talking about a kitchen drain or a bathroom drain.
The most common cause of kitchen drain clogging is fats or grease poured down or washed down the drain. Once subjected to the ambient temperature of the drain, the fats and greases cool and solidify. Initially they form fatty deposits along the wall of your pipes. In time these deposits trap other debris, and a clog forms. The best way to prevent this from happening is to scrape fats away from your pots and dishes, and pour grease into a canister, and toss it into the trash.
The major cause of bathroom drain clogging is hair and other debris and “gunk” that complexes with the hair. Hair very readily is washed down the drain. It gets caught around the pop-up and then winds around the metal X underneath the pop up. The hair then acts as a trap, which can combine with toothpaste, shaving cream, shower gels, body creams, dust, particles, you name it, to form that disgusting looking goop that deposits in the sink trap, and will in time cause a sink and bathtub to drain slow. 9/10 times, this is the cause of a slow draining bathroom drain.
The hair and goop, can often be removed mechanically, if you don’t mind handling it. Be sure to wear gloves as the goop is full of bad bacteria. Recently, a new device called the Zippit, has come out on the market, and promises to get rid of the goop, with the least amount of trouble. You can purchase a plastic “Zippit,” for 2 dollars. The tool, in appearance, is a long narrow, very flexible white plastic piece, with plastic bards coming out of the central stem on both sides. You just slip the Zippit into the drain, on the side of the pop up, and stick it down all the way to the product’s hilt.
Then, you jiggle it around and then pull it back up. Any hair or fibrous junk accumulated in your drain will come up when you pull back on the Zippit.
There are preventative measures that can be taken to prevent hair clogging. However, just try telling your wife not to brush her hair over the sink. Or wives try telling your husbands not to trim their mustache over the bathroom sink, where the hairs will conveniently wash down the drain.But here are some techniques that devoted wives have used to keep the drain free, while keeping the marriage together. You can pour baking soda and vinegar down the drain once a night. You can use a plunger once a week to loosen up the junk in the drain. You can pour bleach down the trap on a fairly regular basis. And you can run hot water full blast every few days.
If the clogged sink is caused by something more substantial, such as a piece of a sponge, you may have to use a plunger or a plumbing tool called an auger to clean out the drain. You can try drain cleaning substances; however, they are hard on the drain, and hard on the plumber, when he comes out to unclog the drain. If nothing works, call the plumber. If you live in the Greater Baltimore area, give A-1 Plumbing of Baltimore a call. Our experienced plumbers are on call 24 /7 and will be happy to help fix your clogged drain.
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