Let’s be honest, most of us are guilty of treating our home drains like magical black holes. Pour it, flush it, wash it down and poof it’s gone forever. Well not exactly. Your drains aren’ t a bottomless pit. In fact, what goes down your kitchen sink, toilet or bathroom drains may come back and haunt you. Not with ghosts, but with clogs, backups, funky smells and some seriously scary repair bills.
At Accurate Leak Locators and Plumbing we have seen it all, in the many years of serving Perris, Menifee, Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, and Hemet. We mean everything, from bacon grease blockades to hairball horror shows. Some of the worst plumbing problems start with innocent mistakes.
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In this article, we’ll be discussing:
- Common Things That Clog Drains Over Time
- Compost Instead of Clogging Your Pipes
- The Cost of Ignoring Drain Care in Riverside County
- When to Call a Professional Plumber
Here are ten everyday items that should never go down the drain and what you should do instead to keep your drain lines drama free.
1. Coffee Grounds
Coffee grounds may fuel your mornings, but they are a nightmare for your pipes. They don’t dissolve, instead they clump together in your pipes and cause a thick sludge. Over time, you’ll have more blockage than energy.
Better option: Toss them in the trash or compost them. Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen and make an excellent fertilizer for your garden. Your garden loves coffee as much as you do.
2. Fats, Oils, and Grease
2. Fats, Oils, and GreaseAfter cooking, it’s tempting to pour leftover grease or oil down the drain. When hot, they flow like liquid gold. When cold they turn into pipe clogging cement and trap anything that follows. Congrats you just made pipe bacon or what plumbers refer to as “fatbergs”. These blockages are tough to remove and a leading cause of drain plumbing problems.
Better option: Let fats, oils, and grease solidify in a container, then throw them away. Many cities in Riverside County have recycling facilities.
3. Eggshells
You might think they sharpen your garbage disposal blades. Nope, eggshells break down into tiny, sharp fragments that cling to grease and create clogs. Over time, these particles accumulate and can cause slow-draining sinks.
Better option: Toss them in the trash or compost them. They are great for your soil and even deter pests. Your flowers will thank you and your pipes will too.
4. Pasta and Rice
These sneaky little carbs may seem innocent on your plate, but once they hit your plumbing, they turn into little pipe clogging monsters. These starch bombs soak up water, swell like bloated sponges, and hang out in your pipes like they’re on vacation. The result? Slow drains, gurgling sounds, and eventually, a full blown clog that has you calling in the pros. We see this issue all the time in family homes around Temecula and Murrieta, where pasta nights are a weekly tradition.
Better option: Scrape leftover pasta and rice into the trash or compost pile before washing dishes.
5. Fibrous Foods (Celery, Onion Skins, Corn Husks)
5. Fibrous Foods (Celery, Onion Skins, Corn Husks)If it looks like it could tangle in your garbage disposal, like spaghetti in a fan, don’t send it down the drain. These stringy foods jam blades and wrap around other debris like a bad hair day.
Better option: Toss them in the compost or trash. You’ll save your garbage disposal a trip to the ER.
6. Produce Stickers
Those tiny stickers on apples, bananas, and other produce may seem harmless, but they are not biodegradable. If they go down your drain, they can stick to pipe walls and filters.
Better option: Peel them off before washing produce and toss them in the trash. Simple.
7. Paper Towels, Wipes, and Feminine Hygiene Products
7. Paper Towels, Wipes, and Feminine Hygiene Products“Flushable” is basically the fake news of plumbing. These items don’t break down or dissolve like toilet paper. They expand, bind with other stuff and cause Titanic level blockages that require professional cleaning.
Better option: Keep a trash can next to the toilet. If it didn’t come from your body or isn’t toilet paper, it doesn’t belong in the bowl. Even the toilet needs boundaries.
8. Medications
Flushing old pills may seem like a convenient way to clean out your medicine cabinet, but it pollutes waterways. Flushing pills turns your toilet into a chemical weapon and doesn’t improve the mood of your plumbing.
Better option: Use your local pharmacy take-back programs or hazardous waste drop-off sites in Riverside County. Your pipes and the fish will thank you.
9. Paint and Chemicals
9. Paint and ChemicalsYour drain is not an art supply disposal. Paint, solvents, and cleaners contain toxic chemicals that corrode pipes, damages the environment, and poisons water systems.
Better option: Check your local hazardous waste rules for disposal. Please don’t paint your plumbing problems.
10. Hair and Other Non-Organic Items
Hair is basically the glitter of the bathroom and the #1 cause of drain clogs. It sticks to everything and never disappears. Add soap scum to the mix and you’ve got a hairball with a vengeance. Items like floss or dental picks are like tiny ninjas that wrap, twist, and clog. Other items like bandages and condoms don’t dissolve in water and can cause major blockages if flushed.
Better option: Use a drain catcher in showers and sinks to trap hair, and throw non-organic waste in the trash.
Compost Instead of Clogging Your Pipes
Compost Instead of Clogging Your PipesFor Riverside County homeowners, composting is a simple and practical way to keep your plumbing clear. Kitchen scraps like coffee grounds, eggshells, and vegetable peels are perfect for compost bins, rather than rinsing them down the sink. No yard? No problem. A small countertop bin does the trick too and you’ll be surprised how much waste you don’t send to your sink. This not only prevents drain plumbing problems, composting creates nutrient rich soil for your lawn and makes your garden bloom.
Whether you live in Perris, Menifee, Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, or Hemet, composting is a homeowner habit that saves you from costly drain repairs while giving back to your landscape.
The Cost of Ignoring Drain Care in Riverside County
What happens if you ignore this advice and keep tossing things down the drains like you’re on a mission. You will start to notice slower draining sinks and tubs, gurgling or bubbling noises, funky sewer smells and backups or leaks in the worst places. Hello slab leaks. These little habits can lead to expensive damage to your drain lines and a plumbing bill that’ll make your wallet cry.
Don’t let your drain become a dumpster. Just because it fits down the drain doesn’t mean it belongs there. Prevention is always the smarter choice when it comes to avoiding drain plumbing problems and cheaper.
When to Call a Professional Plumber
Slow drains, foul odors, or strange gurgling noises aren’t just annoyances, they’re warning signs of bigger plumbing issues hiding out of sight. Most clogs need professional tools and expertise to solve the problem at its root. Knowing when to call a plumber can save you time, money, and a major headache down the line.
If your drains are slow, noisy, or downright smelly, don’t wait for disaster. We offer same day service and advanced solutions like video inspections and hydro jetting. Serving Perris, Menifee, Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, and Hemet, we’ll solve the problem fast. Call now and flush your plumbing worries for good.
