We believe in prevention before cure, and that means making sure you take good care of your drains. It can be expensive to sort out if you leave a problem until it becomes unmanageable. The easy route can be as simple as taking care of your pipes and kitchen and bathroom drains to make sure they’re not blocked so you don’t get the kind of problems that cost an arm and a leg to solve.
If you’re looking to avoid expensive repairs then follow some of our drain maintenance tips and tricks to help avoid any problems from arising. You can also make subtle changes to the way you clean your drains and maintain them on a daily basis.
Keep an eye on what you pour down your drains.
Be aware of what goes down your drains and by doing this you’ll help avoid blockages. When you clean out your pans, pots and plates make sure that you’re not washing down solid food particles or coffee grounds. You can help avoid the worst kinds of blockages by investing in a simple drain guard to capture scraps of food that would otherwise get caught in the drains.
Be careful about fats and oils - they can cause a lot of damage
Fats and oil are the enemy of your drains, they’re non-dissolvable liquids that will block your plughole for sure. When you have oil left over why not pour it into a spare bottle or other type of container and then place it in the bin once it’s cooled off. Always make sure you empty all pots and pans of any solids before placing them in the sink or dishwasher, they have to go somewhere and that’s going to be your drains, and here is where they’ll stay until somebody physically removes them after they’ve caused a blockage. Professionals like ourselves should always be called out to deal with any serious blockages that you cannot deal with yourself. This will help avoid the problem getting worse.
Source simple household items and keep them in your cupboards for when you need them
You can invest in several products that are simple to source and stock them in your cupboards, using them to clean your drains when needed. Items such as white vinegar, soda crystals, baking powder, goggles and gloves are all helpful to maintain healthy, clean drains. You may even have some of them in your cupboards already. For basic maintenance before you use these items, you could just run hot water down the pipes. This can be really effective at getting rid of minor blockages. It can help stop things from sticking and reduce build up of those ugly liquids we spoke about earlier, such as oil and fats.
Using household products to clean drains
So now we can return to those items we mentioned above. You can use baking powder, on its own or mixed with vinegar and this is a strong enough cleaning agent without damaging the lining of your drains. Soda crystals operate the same way when mixed with hot water. Vinegar is great because everyone will have some somewhere. They can help eradicate any buildup and after half an hour after pouring it down the drain you can then wash it down with hot water.
Shop bought chemical cleaners may be the next step
Shop bought chemical cleaners are more powerful than the items we’ve mentioned, but they’re not as kind to the environment. These are a helpful tool however when everything else you’ve tried already has failed to work. You can normally buy household chemical cleaners from most supermarkets and small retailers. They’re not expensive and can help avoid calling in the drain engineers.
East of Scotland Drainage - for all drain problems, big or small
If you’ve tried to clear your drain to no avail then you can always call us. We can sort out the worst kinds of drain blockages, and we have a wealth of sophisticated technological equipment that will solve your problems. We have many years training and a team with enough knowledge, experience and expertise to provide you with solutions to your more serious drain blockages. We can even provide ongoing drain maintenance services to ensure you have no issues in future.