“Can I clear my stopped-up drains myself?”

The short answer is maybe. There are a lot of variables involved, but there are things you can do to help clear stoppages, and just as importantly, to keep them from happening in the first place.

Enter now the drain cleaner formulas that flood the market. If you go to the store to pick up a drain cleaner to dump into your slow or stopped up drain you can easily become overwhelmed with the options at hand. As a plumber, I have recommendations that simplify the process significantly.

What I recommend for drain cleaners to dump down the drain are the natural ones. The ones with safe bacteria and enzymes in them. These work by adding the bacteria into the drain lines which then begin to naturally break down the organic materials that can build up in the drains. This works the very best as maintenance since the bacteria is a slow-acting solution.

I always steer people away from the chemical drain cleaners because they are chemicals and can be extremely harmful, and in some cases fatal if not used properly, or are added when the presence of bleach or ammonia is present. Plus, if the chemical fails to clear the stoppage then the plumber has to deal with the chemicals and very well may charge a higher price because of it.

When it comes to chemical cleaners if they are strong enough to clear a corrosion blockage, then they are probably strong enough to deteriorate the actual piping itself. So while sometimes they can work to basically burn away the organic materials that are blocking the drain, they pose a lot more risk than regular maintenance with the bacteria-based cleaners.

So next time you find yourself looking at a big box store for drain cleaning products, disregard all of the chemical-based ones and the remaining options will be much more simplified. Good luck, I’ll be checking in on this blog again soon! – Byron Thomson

Did you enjoy today’s blog written byNext Level Plumbing’s owner and a master plumber? If you did, go ahead and check out these other blogs written by Byron!

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