Your toilet is built to handle waste and a certain amount of paper products. But if you flush the wrong items, you’ll quickly find they can clog drains, damage pipes, or in some cases, affect your entire water system. Here are four types of items your plumber recommends that  you never flush. When you have a clog or blockage it is recommended NOT to pour any liquid dissolvent down your drains as this will eat and deteriorate your pipes away. It is best to use an auger, sink machine or sewer machine for any drain problems.

What to Keep out of the Toilet

1. Paper Towels & Wipes

Even when these products are marked as “flushable”, they are not good for your plumbing. Paper towels and wipes don’t dissolve the way toilet paper does in water. Instead, they stay in one piece and can become tangled with other undissolved materials, creating large clogs.

2. Feminine Hygiene Products

Cotton items are designed to be as absorbent as possible, so in water, they swell to many times their original size. This swelling can lead them to get stuck in pipes or in your septic system, even if they seem to fit at first.

3. Kitty Litter

A similar phenomenon happens with cat litter, with every grain swelling to many times its size. In addition, kitty litter becomes gelatinous when it is soaked, creating a gooey mess for whoever performs your drain cleaning.

4. Hair & Floss

Long strands may seem insubstantial on their own, but they can easily get caught in the sink pop ups and drain pipes. There, they begin to snag other objects and strands that pass them, forming stubborn blockages over time and potentially requiring a plumber’s help to remove.

 

If your drains have been clogged or damaged from flushing the wrong items, Baity Plumbing Co. in Thomasville, NC, will set them right. Offering residential and commercial pipe repair and cleaning, their experienced plumbers serve Davidson County, Guilford County, Randolph County, and parts of Forsyth County. To schedule a visit, call (336) 475-0921 or contact them online.