Your plumbing system is amazingly reliable, delivering water where you need it when you need it, and flushing the bad stuff down the drain. Yet, it’s also surprisingly sensitive.
There are several common products you use daily without giving any thought to their impact on your plumbing. However, these can dish out a whole lot of damage over time.
Avoid costly repairs and prolong your plumbing system’s lifespan by keeping these four items out of your bathroom.
Flushable Wipes
Don’t be misled: flushable wipes are not flushable.
The wipes are convenient, but the material is not biodegradable, which is not only bad for the environment, but they can also wreak havoc on your plumbing.
- Moistened wipes can clog pipes.
- They do not disintegrate in the plumbing system.
Stick with tried-and-true toilet paper. It dissolves within 8 seconds.
Drain Cleaners
If a drain has a clog, think twice before reaching for the chemical drain cleaner. The product might exacerbate the issue.
- Drain cleaners have poisonous ingredients.
- The toxic chemicals can corrode the pipes.
- Drain cleaners are bad for the environment
Shower Caddy
Who doesn’t want more storage? While a shower caddy offers convenient access to all of your shampoos and body washes, all that weight is putting a tremendous amount of strain on your showerhead. It can damage the fixture and even crack the surrounding tile.
Use a freestanding shower caddy instead.
Bar Soap
The classic bar soap is a clog-causer. Unlike liquid soaps, bar soap, which is made of animal fat or vegetable oil, produces a scummy buildup along the walls of the pipe — a problem made worse by hard water. Plus, chunks of soap wash down the drain where they’ll cling to other accumulations, forming a stubborn blockage.
Liquid soap is just as effective and it washes down easy.
Bottom line: To keep your plumbing running as smooth as possible, change out the abovementioned products with safer alternatives. If you run into any plumbing setbacks, contact Courtesy Plumbing at (626) 774-7167.
