How Often to Clean Your Home’s Drains

Drains deal with a significant amount of water and debris daily, including grease, soap scum, food particles, hair, and more. If you notice that your bathroom sink, kitchen sinks, utility room sinks, toilets, or shower are draining slowly, it often indicates a clog. Failing to clean and maintain your drains on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis can lead to serious clogs and potential damage to your plumbing system.

Dealing with clogged drains is an issue you should never postpone, as the situation can worsen with time. Dr. Pipe answers the common question, “How often should I clean my drains?” and provides guidance on maintaining and cleaning your drains, as well as when to seek professional help for clogged pipes.

Should You Clean Drains Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly?

Professional drain cleaning is a plumbing service carried out by a licensed plumber. They utilize advanced tools and techniques to eliminate grease and debris that accumulate in your drain lines, helping to remove and prevent blockages. It’s advisable to schedule this professional service once a year as part of your home maintenance routine. Make sure to arrange this service with your plumber annually, even if you’re not currently experiencing slow drainage.

Alongside annual professional cleaning, establish a weekly and monthly maintenance routine to keep your drains clear. This proactive approach significantly reduces the risk of blockages and damage to your plumbing drain pipes throughout your home, including buried sewer lines outside.

Moreover, you should consider drain cleaning whenever you notice a drain moving slowly in your home. This issue can affect sinks, showers, or toilets and should be addressed promptly upon discovery. Ignoring poor drainage can allow a minor clog to expand, leading to a complete obstruction of the pipe and a backup in the drain.

The Right Ways to Clean Your Drains

Whether you’re doing regular maintenance weekly or monthly, or dealing with a slow drain, it’s important to know the best cleaning methods to protect your pipes and avoid further damage.

Safe Ways to Clean Drains

• Start by plunging the drain with a suitable plunger, which creates pressure in the pipes to help move blockages. A cup or sink plunger works well for flat sink or shower drains, while a flanged or toilet plunger is designed for use in toilet drains.
• Using an auger or plumber’s snake lets you reach deep into the drain to break up clogs. You can flush smaller pieces through the pipes, or use the auger to pull out larger debris from the drain opening.
• Rinsing drains with hot water is also effective. By pouring boiling water from a height into the drain, you can use gravity and heat to help break down debris and push the blockage along.

Do Not Use

Despite being marketed as safe, it’s best to steer clear of chemical drain cleaners. Here are some key reasons to avoid them:

• Chemical cleaners can corrode pipes, leading to damage and potential replacement over time.
• These chemicals can harm septic systems by disrupting the bacteria necessary for breaking down waste in the tank.
• The toxins found in chemical cleaners are detrimental to the environment, as they can contaminate water supplies and wildlife habitats. Additionally, their packaging contributes to landfill waste and pollution.
• Chemical cleaning products are not effective for all types of clogs in your drain line.

How to Maintain Home Drains

To keep your drains in good working order, there are certain tasks you should perform regularly. Weekly or monthly, the following activities will help keep your drains clean and prevent serious clogs.

• Use your garbage disposal correctly. Avoid putting grease or inappropriate food scraps down your kitchen sink drain. Always run cold water while using the garbage disposal, not hot water. After you stop the disposal, let the cold water run for several seconds to fully rinse the drain. Make it a habit to turn on the garbage disposal and run cold water through it at least once a week.
• Install strainers in your drains to catch larger debris like hair, soap pieces, and other materials, keeping them out of the drain line.
• Once a week, sprinkle baking soda in your kitchen sink drains to prevent odors from dirty sinks.
• Regularly rinse your bathroom and kitchen drains. Pour boiling water into the drain from about three feet above and let it flow through.
• Monthly, add a cup of vinegar and a cup of baking soda to each drain. Allow it to sit for about 30 minutes, then rinse with hot water.

When to Call for Professional Drain Cleaning Service

While it’s often easy to clear hair clogs around a drain opening, not every clog can be resolved without significant effort. In some cases, you may need to contact a plumbing company. Schedule an appointment for them to clean your drains or provide other plumbing services as necessary. Here’s how to know when it’s time to make that call:

• If your drains frequently clog, it’s time to consult a professional, as the underlying issue likely requires more than just removing the clog repeatedly.
• If you notice water backing up in one drain while using another, such as the bathroom sink backing up when the toilet is flushed, it indicates air in the lines, and the drains need professional cleaning.
• When none of the drains in your home are functioning properly, it usually points to a problem in the main sewer pipes that connect your house to the shared sewer system or a private septic tank. You’ll need a plumbing service to resolve any clogs or damage in this area.
• If you notice sewage backing up through the drains, this is an emergency – make sure to call for plumbing service immediately. Exposure to sewage can pose serious health risks to your family. Repairs will likely be necessary in addition to cleaning.
• Puddles of water on the ground can often be attributed to clogs or damage in the underground drain lines. Plumbing service is essential to address these types of issues.

Keep Your Drains Clean with Dr. Pipe

Dr. Pipe assists homeowners in the Cincinnati area in maintaining clean and functional drainage lines throughout their homes. Whether you’re facing an emergency or just need to schedule a routine cleaning to keep your drains in top shape, look no further – reach out to us today!