drain cleaner

boredjellybean

Hi there

Having had to call out a very, very, very good friend on Christmas Eve to clean our drains with their rods I'd prefer to stay on top of things, I was wondering if there is anything you can do on a regular (monthly?) basis to flush the drains through without using expensive solutions.

I'm thinking vinegar & bicarb & bleach are good things but I know that the wrong combination can cause problems!!

So I'm after any advice on what I can put in the plug holes in the kitchen & bathroom & also anything that can go down the loo to help flush the system through?

Many thanks

SailorSam

The best thing you can do to avoid the drains from blocking up is don't throw things down the sink other than water.

boredjellybean

I try really hard not to let anything else go down the sink - I need to find a little sieve thing that goes in the bath for hair washing (ewwwww) & we have a cover on the kitchen sink so most 'bit's' get caught in that
We do use flushable wipes as we have small children so I know that's not great but I do limit how many can be used (lol sound evil like I'm standing over them monitoring them)

LE3

do you know what the blockage at Christmas was?
(fat, hair, "solids", baby wipes?) If you know what caused the last one, simply stopping putting that & anything else unsuitable down the drains will stop them blocking!!

boredjellybean

I believe the Christmas problem may have been flushable wipes (see I really should stand over the kids & ration them out!!!) however before that the drain in the bath was really slow draining & now the kitchen one is slow

GlynD

boredjellybean wrote: »

I believe the Christmas problem may have been flushable wipes (see I really should stand over the kids & ration them out!!!) however before that the drain in the bath was really slow draining & now the kitchen one is slow

I don't believe there is such a thing as flushable wipes - no matter what it says on the packet. Apparantly wipes and fat are the worst culprits for blocking drains.

boredjellybean

I mean the andrex wipes - have I been conned all these years?

With fat I either mix washing up liquid & rinse when it's hot (off of pans etc) or if there is lots `I drain it into a little pot & throw away

squeakysue

We had drain people out a few yrs ago, the flushable wipes were the culprit, flooded under our decking with dirty smelly waste ( was very embarrassed standing looking at all the mess which included several tampons with 2 men). They told me that no wipes were flushable, they just expand in the water, all these companies advertising them as flushable are wrong but keep the drain guys like dyno rod in lots of business

GlynD

boredjellybean wrote: »

I mean the andrex wipes - have I been conned all these years?

With fat I either mix washing up liquid & rinse when it's hot (off of pans etc) or if there is lots `I drain it into a little pot & throw away

Yep, you've been conned. You shouldn't dispose of wipes through the household drainage system.

All very well flushing hot fat down the sink but when it cools it congeals, leading to blockages.

SailorSam

Don't put any fat down the sink, either throw it into a plastic tub and bin it, or wait until it cools and scrape it into old newspaper, then bin it. Same with any pans wipe them with old paper before you wash them.

Sammy-Jo_2

I'm afraid I had the same problem a few years ago. I had been using the flushable wipes and had two problems with my drains. The only reason for the blockage that could be seen when they were flushed and cleared was the wipes. Soon stopped using them after that!

I have also used a solution called One Shot - I get it from a independent DIY shop - its recommended by a plumber that we know.Think its about a fiver.