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Do you ever mean well, but end up making things worse? Do you think you’re doing the best you can to prevent drain blockage, but still end up with clogs?

Ask a plumber in the Cleveland, TN area, and they’ll tell you that you aren’t fully aware of everything that blocks your drain.

You may not have realized that some daily cause clogs too. Here are a few things that lead to clogged drains.

1.  Hair

Hair is one of the most common ways to clog your drain. If you or anyone in your family has problems with hair loss, you’ll probably find hair in your sink or tub on a daily basis.

Make sure to clean it up by throwing it in the garbage. Running the sink and letting the hair go down the drain is a surefire way of letting your money go down the drain as well.

Purchase a strainer to catch the hair before it causes serious damage. When too much hair gets tangled in the drain, you’ll have to call your plumber.

2.  Grease

You may not realize this at first, but grease and oils form globs of substance once they go down your drain. They might not immediately solidify. But once they’re in the water supply, they can clog the drain anywhere they end up.

Like an artery that slowly gets clogged over time, grease accumulates and clogs your drains the same way. The best way to dispose of oils from the food you cook is to collect it in a bag and throw it in the trash. If you need help removing stubborn grease from the deepest parts of your drainage system, contact a professional plumber.

3.  Paper

Yes, this includes toilet paper as well. It may seem gross to throw used toilet paper in the garbage at first. However, both toilet paper and other paper-based products will form clogs over a period of time.

Even if most toilet paper is degradable, paper towels and other hygiene products like pads are definitely a no-go. They will go down the flush and form clumps further down the line to clog your drain.

4.  Coffee

Coffee grounds seem small and harmless, but once they’re in your drains, they can cause a clog. In kitchens, coffee grounds are the most common source of clogs.

People used to think that coffee and tea keep their pipes clear, but that is far from the truth. They bunch up and cause blockages in your pipes.

Even small things can become a huge problem if left untreated for too long. A professional would always advise you to keep coffee and tea away from your drains.

5.  Eggs

When you dump eggshells in the garbage disposal, they’re crushed into small pieces. These tiny pieces combine with grease and oils in the drains to form one big mess. These can easily form a clog inside your pipes. Eventually, you’ll have to call your plumber to unclog them for you.

Be careful with all the food that you dump into your garbage disposal. Just because the disposal is able to grind up the leftover food, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t going on to clog your drains.

6.  Paint

Paints don’t clog your drains, but they’re definitely bad for your water supply. When you wash out your brushes in the sink, you’re letting tons of harmful, toxic chemicals into the water supply.

Not only can these end up back in your groundwater, they can infect the water supply of households around you. Some cities have a waste facility where you can go to dump out your paints.

Just like grease, oil-based paints can also collect inside your drains. If you’re a regular painter, make sure you have proper arrangements for getting rid of your paints. Talk to a professional if paint is blocking your drains.

7.  Stickers

Have you ever let stickers from produce end up in the sink? If you don’t put them in the garbage, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. The adhesive on the back of stickers can make them cling to the inside of pipes.

Over time, these will stick together to form one giant blob in your pipes. Not only will they latch onto more things going down the drain, they commonly bypass the water cleaning systems in place and can even damage them. Call a plumber if you need those nasty clog-causing stickers out of your drainage pipes.

8.  Children

We may not be throwing actual kids into our drains (hopefully), but they can cause serious clogs just from being their natural selves. Children often experiment with toilets to see what will and what will not flush.

You’ll end up finding toys and shampoo bottles in the toilet if you’re not careful enough. Ask a plumberand they’ll tell you how common it is to find these in drains. Put a child-lock in place so your little kids don’t damage the drains.

9.  Medicine

It’s easy to throw expired medicines into the toilet if your medicine cabinet is in the bathroom. However, even though medicines dissolve, they’re extremely harmful for the environment.

Whenever you flush painkillers or syrups, you’re sending hundreds of chemicals into the city’s water supply. Although the water is cleaned before re-entering the water supply that comes into our homes, animals living in the water are at risk of absorbing the toxins. Many fish can end up poisoned because of the amount of hazardous waste we unknowingly dump into their habitat.

10.  Soap

Like grease, soap can cause a buildup in your drain over time. It stays on the insides of pipes and slowly reduces the amount of water that can flow through it.

Even though you can’t prevent having soap in your drains, you can get regular checkups from a plumber in the Cleveland, TN area to make sure there is no major clog. They can help maintain your drainage system so that any buildup is treated before it the issue escalates.

For a trustworthy and reliable plumber in the Cleveland, TN area, contact Metro Plumbing, Heating and Air of Cleveland, TN today! We have a well-qualified team of expert plumbers that will solve all your plumbing issues efficiently and with complete safety.