It’s hard to believe for some, but many households will flush more than just toilet paper down their toilet. When you go to do your business on the toilet, the only thing that should be flushed is the toilet paper. However, you’d be surprised at just what gets flushed down the drains.
For plumbers, they tend to see a lot of different objects and products blocking up pipes both in households and beyond. So with that in mind, here are a few things to not flush down your toilet.
Baby wipes
Despite having the ‘flushable’ mention on the packaging, baby wipes shouldn’t be flushed down the toilet. Pretty much all of the wipes on the market that are used for babies, aren’t going to simply dissolve. They’re made of a thicker material to toilet roll and so it’s more likely to clog up your drains.
Professional plumbers say that to avoid any problems with your plumbing, put your baby wipes in the trash instead. It’s a lot easier and more cost-effective in avoiding plumbing problems.
Cotton products
Whilst cotton products might seem something you could dispose of down your toilet bowl, they’re made of stronger stuff. With cotton being fairly durable against water and any watery products that you might use them for, it’s unlikely that they’ll break apart as easily as you’d think.
Avoid flushing anything from cotton wool to q-tips down the drain and like baby wipes, put them in the trash.
Menstrual products
Whilst they’re a little messy to deal with, menstrual products shouldn’t go down the drain. They’re more durable than any cotton products and so you’re going to end up with a lot of clogged pipes if you’re putting your tampons or sanitary pads down there.
Menstrual products are more than likely to clump up and cause a lot of problems with your drains. They’re also not something that your plumber wants to deal with in a great deal of volume.
Hair
It may come as a shock to some that hair isn’t recommended to flush down your toilet. It sounds pretty harmless though right? However, hair doesn’t dissolve. That means as you flush hair down the drain, it’s likely to get caught up with something along the way and then that will start to collect other hair. All of a sudden, you have clumps of hair that are acting as a barrier to any toilet paper that you’re flushing down the drain.
Miscellaneous items
There’s a lot more than just the above products that end up going down the drain. Some have flushed food, floss, diapers and even medication down the drain. All of this is going to cause more harm than good to your drains so if it’s anything other than toilet paper, put it in the trash to prevent clogging or repair work.
Professional plumbers suggest all of the above in order to keep your pipes clean and clear. That way, you end up saving money and causing less stress to your household.
