Drain Maintenance (2 Cleaning Methods & A How-To Guide)

Many people often say that clogged drains are very common, but in reality, you can easily maintain a clog-free home by performing regular maintenance. It is actually one of the most basic things that every homeowner should know. For all of this, you simply need a guide that provides you with all the information about drain maintenance, and that’s what we are providing here. A drain maintenance guide that will help you achieve a clog-free home by simply doing small tasks. You will get many ideas about drain maintenance both professional and DIY.

Understanding of Drain Mechanism

It is very important to understand the working of the drain so that you can maintain them very well. Drains are designed to remove wastewater from your home and then directly send it into the sewer. They are usually dependent upon gravity like the waste water gets down the pipe and then into the sewer. Sometimes this drain system becomes slow due to clogging. In this case, you will have to face the problem of foul odours, overflowing toilets and wastewater that can back up in the sink. You can easily avoid this problem by regular maintenance of your drain system.

2 Drain Cleaning Methods

Cleaning your drain is one of the most important steps in drain maintenance. You can clean up your drain with chemical cleaners and natural cleaners. You can choose whatever you think is necessary for your drain cleaning. Flushing your drain is the most effective way to clean your drain. It can clean up your drain pipes and you get fresh and clear drains. This is a necessary thing every homeowner should learn because failure to flush out your drains is the major reason why most of us have to struggle with the frequent clogging in our drains. If you don’t flush out your drain then things will continue to build up and the diameter of your drain will get reduced and you will notice a slow flow of water down your drain.

1. Drain Cleaning With the Help of Chemicals

Cleaning with chemicals is what most people prefer because they are usually the most effective way to get rid of clogs and you don’t need many things for that just chemical that is easily available in the market. For this, you can just simply use enzymatic cleaners. It is a combination of a high concentration of lye and sulphuric acid. This method does not require so much manual work, you just need to pour that chemical into your drain to break down all clogs present in your drain, but as you know these are chemicals so you must use them very carefully. One more important thing you have to keep in mind is that it is necessary to flush out remaining chemicals with sufficient amounts of running water because if all chemicals are not flushed out properly then you have to face problems related to smell in your drain area.

2. Drain Cleaning With Natural Cleaner

To clean the drain naturally, you only need two things: the first is baking soda, and the second is vinegar. These are two things you can easily find in your kitchen. You just need to pour half a cup of baking soda down your drain and after that, you just need to pour half a cup of vinegar, then plug the sink and let it be for overnight. After doing all this, the next day you just need hot water, flush the drain with the hot water and that’s it. You got a smell-free brand new drain. By using this method you can clean up your drain once a month.

The second method is quick and just a piece of cake. For that, you just need a very big pot of hot water but make sure it’s not boiling water then you just need to pour down that hot water into your drain, and after that pour some cold water, it will help you to flush out the clogs that are present in your drain.

Stuff You Shouldn’t Ever Put Down Your Drain

You should always make sure that you never pour oils or liquid fats down the drain because when they get cool they become solid and then clinch to the pipes and add fuel to fire.

A few more things are:

1. Eggshells – This is very common in every household,  but it shouldn’t be put down on your drain. You can simply throw that in a garbage bag because if it gets down on your drain then it can catch on other items and then can grow into large clogs that will be very harmful for your drain.
2. Coffee grounds – Almost every morning everyone needs coffee and for that most people use coffee grounds but you should be very careful because if this coffee ground falls into your drain then it can get stuck to pipe walls and can create problems.
3. Any other items that can be stuck into your drain, and built into a paste, will create a clog including paste. Always be careful about these things to avoid any drain problems. 

Also Read: Consequences of Pouring Oil Down the Drain

Tools That Will Be Helpful for Drain Maintenance

For maintenance of your drain, you need the right tools for that you can use these tools to fix common and easy drain complications. It is better to fix them in their initial stage so that it does not cause much damage to your drain later. Like, you can use a normal plunger that is very effective in fixing a clogged drain and one more tool that is helpful for you is a snake drain auger. These two tools are essential for drain maintenance.

Related Articles:

• How to Prevent Drain Blockages
• Cleaning Service
• Unclog a Drain if a Snake Doesn’t Work

Other Key Things to Remember

Here let’s talk about drain separately. First, we’re gonna talk about the kitchen sink drain, then the shower drain and toilet drain.

• Kitchen sink drain – It is very important for you to avoid flushing the small soap chunks and vegetable pieces or vegetable peels down your drain. It is very necessary to make sure that you flush out your saying on a weekly basis. You can use hot water or chemicals whatever you think is necessary.
• Shower drain – It is very necessary for you to make sure that your hair and small soap chunks do not get accumulated in the drain pipe because these are the major causes of clogging in shower drains. To avoid all this you can just simply install a strainer in your shower. It is one of the best solutions for that. But if your shower drain gets clogged it is very necessary to take professional help because it cannot be solved with your DIY since they are usually very stubborn.
• Toilet drain – For this drain, you should make sure that any cleansing clothes, baby wipes or any hygiene products are only thrown into the trash, not into your drain. Because it is one of the most common areas where train maintenance is always ignored, you have to keep that thing in mind that toilet drains are only designed to flush out water and toilet paper and if any other material gets flushed down then it will create the problem. It is always best if you flush your toilet weekly you can use hot water or any enzymatic cleanser. One of the most important things to keep in mind is not to use too much toilet paper because it can also cause clogging.

Conclusion

These are the easiest and most effective ways to maintain your drain. By following all these steps you can easily avoid messy and smelly drains and can keep your drains flowing well and smoothly. By using a little bit of your time each week for drain maintenance you can save lots of your money and time in the long run.