It can be easy to just throw trash into a toilet and flush it down, without giving it a thought. However, taking care of potential resulting clogs may not be so easy. This is why the best thing to do would be to keep the extra waste out of the toilet. A blockage that has already formed needs toilet repair or professional drain cleaning, not another flush. Here are six items that absolutely should never be flushed!
As a general rule of thumb, you should not be putting anything but toilet paper down the toilet.
1. Disposable Diapers
For some reason, people still try to flush these down the toilet! However, flushing diapers is a common cause of serious pipe clogs that require professionals, like True Plumbers & AC, to eradicate. A clog that reaches the main line becomes a sewer backup, and a backup that reaches your flooring becomes water damage restoration. Wipes are the same story, even the ones sold as flushable, as we explain in are flushable wipes harming your plumbing.
2. Cat Litter
Some cat litter actually says that it is flushable on the container, but that is not true. No form of cat litter should be going into your toilet. Cat litter lingers in the pipes and may not dissolve, leaving the need for major repairs. On a septic system it settles out and shortens the life of the drain field.
3. Dental Floss
This small substance can create a big problem for your pipes! Because dental floss is stringy and does not readily dissolve, it sits in your pipes. This floss can then become entangled with other small materials and create a larger clog. Pouring a bottle of chemical cleaner after it makes things worse, which is why store bought drain cleaners are a bad idea.
4. Gum
It can be tempting to spit your gum into the toilet, rather than the wastebasket. But, that would be a big mistake! Gum is sticky and can become stuck to the inner surfaces of your pipes. Water does nothing to get rid of the gum and new plumbing issues are created. Staying ahead of this is mostly habit, and our tips to keep your drains from getting clogged cover the rest.
5. Hair
Hair gets clogged in your bathroom sink and your bathtub drain easily. Since hair is constantly falling off our heads and combines with soap scum, these clogs happen frequently. The mistake is when people take the clog of hair from one of these places and flushes it down the toilet. Hair should be disposed of in the waste and never through the pipes. If a hair clog has already set up in a drain, see what actually eats through hair in a drain.
6. Condoms
Condoms should always go directly into the trash! The issue with condoms is the latex they are made of and the lubricant that covers them. Both latex and lubricants are bad for your plumbing. Condoms can become lodged in the pipes and create clogs.
In Conclusion
So many items do not belong down your toilet. Be wise with your household flushing rules and allow nothing but toilet paper down the chute. How much of it you use matters too, as we found in do you use more toilet paper than the average person. If the bowl is already rising, here is how to unclog a toilet without a plunger and what to do if it overflows. If, for some reason, you do end up with a bad clog, and you live in Lakeland, Plant City, Winter Haven, or the surrounding areas, call our emergency plumbing team at (863) 667-6364 to have one of our team members take care of the problem properly.
