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Keeping household drains clean is no easy task in a typical home.  Long hair, soap, food, and other debris can clog up a drain pretty quickly, and knowing what to do to keep them clean is a worthwhile pursuit.

Let’s start with keeping the bathroom drains clean. First, get a hair catcher.  There are several varieties in stores — some are chains that hang down the drain and hair gets wound around them. Others are like mini sieves and they allow the water to run through while catching the hair. The sieve style hair catchers have the added advantage of also catching soap pieces that break off or fall — too small to hold onto but large enough to catch on hair clogs and make them worse.

Also, watch what hovers near the sink in a bathroom.  Rings, the backs of earrings, and other small objects can easily fall into sink drains and add to clogs that are already building in the pipes.

For kitchens, the big problem is almost always the in sink disposal.  People think they are meant to replace disposing of food scraps in a trash, so they scrape everything down the sink. The fact is, those in sink disposals are meant to catch bits of food that did not go quickly into the trash.

They were never meant for popcorn (kernels can break the motor), peelings (potato peels are particularly bad, but carrots, apples, oranges, lemons, and eggs will also clog the blades), pits (peach, apricot, avocado), or bones. 

Most people do not intentionally clog drains, but if you do not educate family members, they might inadvertently do exactly that.

When that happens, your best friend is a plumber’s helper.  To keep drains clear from soap and grease, regularly clean them with baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water.