Since we often use them in our daily lives, the toilets we have at home are critical parts of our routines and bear a sort of comfort that we enjoy and can never find anywhere else.
Whether it’s for number ones, number twos, crying, or drunk nights, there’s no denying that these fixtures bear an importance unlike any other. Although you might end up taking the other parts of your house for granted (even though you shouldn’t), your toilets are the main exception because once they’re gone or broken, they’ll let you know.
Considering how important it is to have your toilet stay in perfect condition, it’s only right for you to take the necessary precautions in maintaining it so that it works smoothly whenever needed. Beyond calling Professor Plumb for some yearly maintenance and investing in quality components, another way you can keep your beloved flusher in ship shape is to avoid flushing whatever you shouldn’t down the drain!
What shouldn’t you be flushing down your toilet?
Unless it’s human waste, your toilet shouldn’t have anything flushed down its snaking drains because it was (and always will be) built to help your body whenever it needs to do its natural processes.
While we might all see our toilets as the tanks of our home that have been through a lot, but still stay strong, the fact is that they’re more sensitive than homeowners expect. Unfortunately, many people still don’t understand this fact and inadvertently cause these ever-important appliances to break at the worst times.
Yet, you don’t have to be one of these negligent homeowners that end up with a four or five-figure repair bill as long as you stop flushing these items down the toilet:
Cigarette butts
If there’s anything that your plumber hopes you don’t do to your toilet, it’s flushing cigarette butts down its drain.
When you start smoking in the bathroom and flushing your cigarette butts, you bring a problem to both your health and plumbing since the effect also carries onto the water. This is attributed to the fact that cigarettes or cigarette butts—when flushed down the toilet—end up making your toilet bowl’s pathways prone to blockage.
Once enough butts pile up and fill a drain, the resulting blockage ends up contaminating the body of water it ends up in with carcinogens and other nasty cancer-causing substances. Although throwing your finished cigarette down the toilet bowl might seem like an easy solution for disposal, it’s much better to think twice and consider the implications of forcing your bad habits down the literal drain.
Sanitary products
Here’s a rule you should live by if your main goal is to help your toilet last long.: If you’ve used it on your skin, then it doesn’t belong in the toilet.
Today, items like paper towels, tampons, bandages, cotton, and other hygienic materials are some of the most common toilet cloggers and causes of toilet breakage. However, this continues to be the case because people don’t know how damaging they are. The reason these seemingly safe and flush-friendly items are so notorious for breaking toilets is that they aren’t prone to decay, causing the problem of clogging to become much more severe.
Grease and oil
One misconception that people have when dealing with their leftover cooking oil is that they can just put it down the toilet and flush it out. But this is an absolutely terrible mistake!
Although you might believe that it’s all right to flush the above-mentioned fluids since “liquid will mix with liquid,” flushing grease and oil down your toilet will actually cause it to clog in a very devastating fashion. The reason these liquids cause major clogs is that they don’t degrade or mix with water. Once they cool down, they’ll eventually turn into a wax-like substance that will clog your drains before they can even leave the water system!
Conclusion
While it may not necessarily seem like such a big deal at first, flushing the wrong items down the toilet can make for a plumbing catastrophe that you’d never want to ever experience even if you were paid to. But by keeping an eye out for the must-nots mentioned above and being more of a careful flusher, you’ll be able to keep your fixtures in shipshape all year round with ease!
We’re a plumbing and drain service in Columbiana that has years of experience serving homes and commercial properties of all kinds. Get in touch with us today to schedule an appointment at your earliest convenience!