Tips for a Clog-free Thanksgiving Day

Sluggish drains Thanksgiving

A drain that runs sluggishly or is completely stopped up is usually clogged with grease, soap, hair, or a solid object. The pipes themselves are usually all right. As a preventive measure always use the toilet, not a sink, to dispose of semisolid waste. If your drains are sluggish before Thanksgiving company comes to visit – expect a clogged drain.  Overworking drains that are already experiencing signs of blockage, will compound the problem, quickly.

Plumbing Pro Tip for Thanksgiving Day

Tip #1 Food that has been ground in a garbage disposer can form a thick paste, especially if grease is part of the mix.

Tip #2 Keep grease out of the sink whenever possible. Use cold water when running the disposer, then run hot water for a few seconds to clear the trap.

Tip #3 Don’t pour fats or cooking oils down drains.

Tip #4 Avoid stringy and fibrous or starchy waste in the garbage disposal. Things like celery, poultry skins, and poultry skins wreak havoc on drains and bind up the disposer.

Tip #5 Wait 15-20 minutes in between showers so water has time to re-heat.

Tip #6 Don’t flush cotton balls, swabs or facial pads into the toilet.

PLUMBING TRADE SECRETS: When diagnosing and unclogging, if only one fixture is sluggish or stopped up, the clog is probably in the fixture’s trap or the branch drain line. If more than one fixture is affected, the problem is farther down the line – most likely in a drainpipe or even the stack. If all the fixtures on the first floor are sluggish or stopped, the main drain may need to be augered – a job for a Santa Cruz plumbing professional.

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