When you've got a clogged drain, you can't unclog it fast enough. Your drain didn't likely get that way overnight. It can take months for hair and debris to build up in our pipes or one carefully placed dinky car. Regardless of the clog, it was a whole lot easier to ignore as long as the water was still flowing freely. Now that the clog is complete, there are many ways to unclog that drain but considering drain cleaner shouldn't be one of them.
There are multiple items on the shelves that you can buy to tackle that clog. Many of them are very toxic, corrosive and downright horrible for the environment. You'll never see a professional plumber using liquid drain cleaner, and that's for good reason.
Doesn't Clean Well
Drain cleaner may seem like a cheap solution compared to the expense of having a plumber pay a visit. Drain cleaners, however, don't actually clean your pipes very well, leaving them vulnerable to future clogs.
Can Damage Your Pipes
The use of drain cleaners can, over time damage your pipes. While drain cleaner is intended to blast away at typical clogs, it will also blast away at the pipes, causing more trouble than it's worth. The corrosive nature of drain cleaners will eat through anything, including your pipes. Drain cleaners can also ruin the surface of your toilet, sink, and tub.
Toxicity
There aren't many items under your kitchen sink that are more toxic than drain cleaner. Hydrochloric acid is one of the many ingredients in drain cleaner that are toxic for your pets and yourself. There are many different brands of drain cleaners, some posing more threat than others. While direct contact with drain cleaner can cause burns, and poison when ingested, the fumes alone will cause eye and nose irritation. Purposely keeping something this toxic in your home is not favourable.
Horrible For The Environment
If you wouldn't expose yourself or your loved ones to drain cleaner, you wouldn't want to put it out into the environment either. Once drain cleaner is poured down that clogged drain, there is nowhere for it to go but down the drain. You will be essentially releasing a number of toxic ingredients into the water system. Also, when the drain cleaner bottle is empty, it really isn't. Your drain cleaner bottle will sit in a landfill with residue, exposed to the environment.
So how do we get that drain unclogged without a drain cleaner? There are many tools of the trade that can be used by yourself.
- Use a snake. These can be purchased from any hardware store for a small investment
- Hot water. A good dose of very hot water will often get things going
- Plunger. Purchase the expensive one. There are good plungers and there are bad plungers. This is one of those cases when you get what you paid for
- Natural ingredients such as baking soda, vinegar, and simple soapy water can do the trick
- A great plumber. When all else fails, call in the professionals
By using these techniques as a checklist. Some clogs will clear quite easily. Others will have you exhausting all these tips only to find that the plumber is indeed having trouble with your pesky clog. Don't resort to pouring poisonous, corrosive drain cleaner down your drain. You may be left with a bigger problem. So Contact A. McKenna Plumbing today to get a plumbing solution that works!