Prep Your Pipes With 4 Handy Hints From J. Blanton

The holidays provide a perfect opportunity to spend quality time with friends and family! However, nothing ruins a seasonal dinner party faster than a burst pipe or clogged drain in the guest bathroom. Save yourself the hassle and unpleasantness by preparing for all of your upcoming events with these four tips!

Use Hot Water For Clogs

Rather than relying on chemical drain cleaners, try using hot water. If you are experiencing a clog, this method is actually one of the most effective ways to clear it because most clogs are caused by soap or grease! After the blockage has melted away, make sure to run hot water through your system on a regular basis to keep future issues from occurring. If nothing else is working, call a licensed professional to quickly and safely unclog your pipes.

Use A Different Disposal Method

While it’s easy to toss all of your food scraps down the garbage disposal for easy cleanup, you’ll be spending more time scheduling repairs if you’re not careful. A few things that should never be tossed into the garbage disposal include:

• Oil and grease: Can easily clog up and corrode your disposal.


• Eggshells: Can easily wrap around blades and tangle them.


• Fruit pits or seeds: May cause significant damage to blades.


• Chicken bones: Very few garbage disposals can handle bones.


• Corn husks: Can very easily wrap around blades and become tangled.

Flush The Right Stuff

If your guests are staying for a few days, it would be best to talk to them about what can and cannot be flushed down the toilet. It may not be the most enjoyable topic of conversation, but it will save you a lot of time down the road, especially if children are present. Let them know that baby wipes, paper towels or any other material besides toilet paper should never be flushed. However, kids will be kids, and if you somehow discover a toy or other non-flushable object has made its way down the drain, consider calling a professional to resolve the clog.

Avoid Chemicals

Drain cleaners are often advertised as miracle brews that will unclog your drain hassle-free. And while this may be the case at first glance, chemical drain cleaners actually harm your system in the long run. The same chemicals that cut through blockages can also corrode and damage your plumbing, resulting in pipe repairs.

If you have any questions about how to prep your plumbing system for the holidays, give J. Blanton Plumbing a call at any of our three Chicagoland locations. We are available 24 hours a day and would be happy to help you in any way we can!