How to Prevent Drain Blockages

Drain blockages happen often, but they don’t have to! Here are some tips on how to prevent drain blockages from occurring at your property:

How to Prevent Drain Blockages

1. Regularly Clean Plug-holes in Bathrooms and Kitchen.

These two rooms in your home are prone to the most amount of debris clogging your drains. In the bathroom, the main culprit is hair. You may think that a little bit every now and again won’t hurt, but let me tell you…. It all adds up! And in the kitchen, how often would food scraps, oil and dirt find its way down your drain? It would be worth investing in a strainer plug  to stop this from entering your drain.

2. Don’t flush foreign objects down the toilet

Foreign objects consist of sanitary products, wipes, nappies and paper towel. Even if these products claim to be flushable, we highly recommend to avoid flushing them. They are unable to breakdown in drains and cause unwanted blockages to occur. Placing a small bin beside your toilet could be a worthwhile solution. 

3. Avoid putting food scraps down the drain

Do you know what food is the biggest culprit for clogging drains? RICE! Before cleaning your dishes, scrape all food scraps into the bin and then wash. I know it’s far easier to rinse them, but you’re clearly reading this article for a reason…

4. Don’t put coffee grounds down the sink

I must admit, I am guilty of this sometimes. A combination of coffee grounds, oil and grease is a recipe for disaster. There are many better ways to dispose of  your coffee grounds, including putting them in the bin, a worm compost or even your garden. Coffee grounds act as a fertiliser for your garden so why waste putting them down your drain!

5. Don’t dispose of grease and oil down the drain

This is a big no-no. It may seem innocent when you do it whilst washing your dishes, but in cold temperatures, these oils will harden and turn into lumps which can contribute to the blocking of the drain. 

Tips to disposing of grease and oil: 

• You can put oils straight in the bin
• You can dispose of oils in an old jar and then throw the filled jar in the bin.
• Put oil in the fridge or freezer until it solidifies, and then dispose of it in the bin (this may be the most effective/tidy way)

Following these simple steps and forging some new habits, you will be on the way to preventing your drains from unwanted blockages. 

Too late… My drain is blocked? Read our post; How to Clear Blocked Drains