7 Common Drain Cleaning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Is there a drain in your home that’s either draining very slowly or not draining at all? If so, you’re going to want to work on cleaning this drain immediately to prevent further problems with your plumbing system.

If you already have a foolproof drain cleaning routine that always works for you, you’re welcome to go ahead and use it. But if you haven’t ever cleared a drain before, you’ll want to avoid making any of the common drain cleaning mistakes.

If you make any of these mistakes, it could make a bad situation worse. You might end up having to deal with the cost of drainage repairs before long.

Here are seven of the most common drain cleaning mistakes and what you can do to steer clear of them.

1. Pouring Dangerous Chemicals Down the Drain

If you take a stroll down the cleaning product aisle in almost any grocery store, you’ll see a whole bunch of chemical drain cleaners that will promise to get your drains cleared in no time.

Some of these drain cleaners will work wonders for your clogged drain. But at the same time, they’ll also often contain dangerous chemicals that could do a lot of harm to your drains. You should stay away from them at all costs.

2. Using a Plunger on a Drain in the Wrong Way

While it’s not a good idea to use chemical drain cleaning products on a clogged drain, there are other drain cleaning supplies that might get the job done. A plunger, for example, might be able to clear a drain in under a minute.

That being said, you will want to make sure you know how to use a plunger on a clogged drain before utilizing it. It’ll involve filling up a sink or tub with some water, placing a plunger over a clogged drain to form a tight seal, and then plunging with it for about 20 seconds.

As long as you use a plunger properly, it should be able to loosen up whatever is causing your clogged drain. This will help the drain to start working like usual again.

3. Utilizing a Drain Snake Improperly

If a plunger doesn’t do the trick when you’re trying to clear a clogged drain, you might want to invest in a drain snake. A drain snake is designed to break through hair, soap scum, and anything else that might be in a drain and then pull it back out.

But you might run into complications if you don’t use a drain snake correctly. It can, for instance, be tough to maneuver a drain snake down drains and plumbing pipes that take lots of twists and turns.

If you feel like you’re trying to force a drain snake through your home’s plumbing pipes, you might want to remove it and call on a professional for plumbing services.

4. Placing a Garden Hose in a Drain

Believe it or not, some homeowners will go to extra great lengths in an attempt to take care of a clogged drain. They’ll run a garden hose into their house and put it down their drain to try and force water through their plumbing pipes.

The problem is that, if these plumbing pipes have a clog in them, it will often result in water from the garden hose shooting back up through the drain. Placing a garden hose in a drain is one of the worst common drain cleaning mistakes you can make.

5. Attempting to Stick Other Things Down a Drain

Generally speaking, you don’t want to put anything down a drain if it doesn’t belong there. Outside of trying to run a drain snake down your drain, you should keep all other foreign objects far away from it.

If you start sticking things like screwdrivers and other sharp objects down your drain, you might end up losing them. You might also put your plumbing pipes at risk by taking this approach.

6. Failing to Hire a Drain Cleaning Service

At the end of the day, the best thing to do when you have a clogged drain that needs to be cleaned is to hire a drain cleaning service to assist you. A company like John the Plumber will be able to set you up with all the drain cleaning services you need.

We can perform a home drainage inspection to see what seems to be causing a clogged drain in your home. We can then figure out the best method to make your clogged drain a thing of the past.

7. Letting a Drain Get Backed Up in the First Place

If you want to make sure you don’t ever get caught making any of these common drain cleaning mistakes, you should strive to keep your home’s drains clean at all times.

How can you do this? Well, for starters, you can try not to let too much hair and other debris go down your drains. That should keep them clean for the most part.

You’ll also want to use your drains regularly and flush them with hot water from time to time. Taking these simple steps should help you to stop your drains from getting backed up on you.

Don’t Make These Common Drain Cleaning Mistakes

When one of the drains in your home isn’t working like it’s supposed to, it can prevent you from being able to use a particular sink or tub. It’s why you might be desperate to make this clogged drain go away ASAP.

It would be smart to get a drain cleared as quickly as you can. But you shouldn’t do it at the expense of your drain or your plumbing system. You’ll want to shy away from making any of the common drain cleaning mistakes listed here.

Contact us now to take advantage of the drain cleaning services we have to offer in the Kansas City area.