{"id":966,"date":"2020-12-07T02:25:11","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T02:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shtheme.org\/demosd\/roofline\/?p=31"},"modified":"2021-11-12T12:33:43","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T12:33:43","slug":"smashing-podcast-episode-with-trine-falbe-martin-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/smashing-podcast-episode-with-trine-falbe-martin-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Ditch Drain Cleaners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone wants to find the best solutions to their problems. Equally, everyone hopes their solutions are cost-effective, time-effective, convenient & ACTUALLY effective. It makes sense, & it\u2019s only natural. Because of this \u2013 sites like Pinterest have become one of the top search engines for home-remedies, DIY & general self-improvement. In fact, there is a 75% chance you stumbled upon this post via a Pinterest search yourselves (ok those aren\u2019t real statistics, but you get my point).<\/p>\r\nWhen it comes to the health of our\u00a0bodies<\/em>, most people look for home remedies on the interweb & eventually end up seeing a doctor anyway. Not much is different about how we approach our plumbing except for one thing \u2013 we don\u2019t see our plumbing as the health of our home. We rarely take the health of our homes\u2019 pipes seriously. Pipes are the nervous system & the digestive tract, of any house. And just like you need to make healthy choices about what you put in your body \u2013 the same goes for your homes\u2019 pipes.\r\n\r\nThe problem is, most of the products sold to homeowners to \u201chelp\u201d clean & maintain their homes, turns out to be damaging. With so many companies out there willing to SAY\u00a0ANYTHING<\/em>\u00a0to make a sale \u2013 how do you know what advice to take?\r\n\r\nThe answer really is to take the time to do your research. Drain cleaners are simply the band-aid solution to a much larger \u201chealth\u201d problem in your pipes. At best, they buy you a little time until you need to have a plumber do a full exam. Often though \u2013 they become the \u2018coup de grace\u2019 forcing you to make a call to an emergency plumbing company.\r\nDramatic \u2013 maybe. But ask any real plumber & they will agree \u2013 they cause more harm than good.\r\n\r\nNow<\/em><\/strong>, before you start sending us links to the latest brand of eco-friendly, chemical-free cleaners; you should note \u2013 there is a reason we didn\u2019t name this article \u201cwhy you should switch to organic cleaners in 2020\u201d \u2013 BECAUSE THEY DON\u2019T WORK.\r\n\r\nAre they safer? YES, absolutely. But there is a reason the market isn\u2019t flooded with these options \u2013 they just haven\u2019t made a natural, organic, chemical-free cleaner that is effective & reliable enough to stand up next to their chemical counterparts.\r\n\r\nHere are 4 BIG reasons why you should ditch pipe & drain cleaners in 2020 \u2013 & call a plumber instead.<\/strong>\r\n

1. Drain Cleaners Are TOXIC<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nDrain cleaners are FULL of toxic chemicals. The toxicity levels in these chemical drain cleaners are very high (like off-the-charts high for some!). Especially if you buy \u201cbargain\u201d, off-brand or generally inexpensive cleaners. Chemical drain cleaners put off fumes that are harmful if inhaled or ingested. As per their labels \u2013 these products can burn your nose, eyes, & skin. The fumes can also hang around long after the chemical is used. These cleaners are not only harmful to those using it, but the fumes can linger & waft making it especially harmful to pets, babies, the elderly & children of all ages.\r\n

2. Drain Cleaners Damage Your Pipes<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nChemical drain cleaners have to be strong enough to cut through fat & grease; to dissolve hair, paper, plastic & other blockages. This means that the chemicals in them\u00a0are strong enough to harm your pipes<\/strong>. Drain cleaners are made up of dozens of chemicals. The #1 chemical used in these cleaners is hydrochloric acid which can damage your pipe fairly quickly while it \u201csits\u201d and eats away at your blockage.\u00a0 This chemical is not only known for damaging your pipes, but it\u2019s also the culprit that damages expensive finishes on your bathroom fixtures. I mean\u00a0HELLO<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 acid is in the name! You can\u2019t be surprised that these cleaners will eat through pipes quickly\u00a0 \u2013 especially in spots that are blockage-prone.\r\n\r\nTruth is, plumbers DO use high-grade chemical drain cleaners occasionally. HOWEVER, a good plumber will use it safely, with proper ventilation & will use safety gear. Followed up by a very thorough wash-out, being sure nothing is left to sit & damage your pipes or the health of your family.\r\n

3. Harmful to the Environment<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nWe all\u00a0should<\/em>\u00a0know by now that anything that spills onto the ground gets absorbed into the soil & makes its way into the water, plants & wildlife it\u2019s around. So when you have a leak after dumping a gallon of cleaner down your pipes \u2013 those chemicals are going into your land, & into the local water. Bottles with leftover cleaners & chemicals are often poured out, \u201cflushed\u201d or end up in landfills where they can (again) seep into the ground \u2013 harming wildlife & contaminating water sources. More so \u2013 If you are on a septic system you could be introducing those harmful chemicals into the groundwater (source) that you rely on. Directly affecting your family!\r\n

4. Shocker: They Aren\u2019t Guaranteed to Work<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nEven IF these cleaners were safe & still as powerful as they claim \u2013 there is no way for any company to guarantee they will work because they can\u2019t see in your pipes to know what the issue truly is. At best they may have a money-back guarantee posted on the bottles in hopes you will not bother to go through the hassle of actually following through with the request. So 9 times out of 10 \u2013 if your pipe blockage something that your drain cleaner isn\u2019t capable of fixing \u2013 then that means you will have wasted money AND have cups or even gallons of toxic chemicals sitting in your pipes. When you\u00a0DO<\/em>\u00a0end up calling a plumber they will have to figure out a way to dispose of the chemicals which will likely cost you extra time in labor plus potential environmental fees depending on your location.\r\n\r\nSo how do you know if you should try a cleaner or just call a local plumber?\u00a0 Well, if you have a blockage that you can\u2019t unblock with a plunger, baking soda & hot water \u2013 you need to call a professional.\r\n

Need professional drain or pipe clearing services? Give us a call o<\/strong>r\u00a0schedule a service online<\/a>!<\/h2>\r\nBlockages are serious. Not only are they messy \u2013 they can cause serious water damage to your home. Give Saint Pete Plumbing a call. We guarantee our work & our reviews speak for themselves.\u00a0 Contact us today!","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone wants to find the best solutions to their problems. Equally, everyone hopes their solutions are cost-effective, time-effective, convenient & ACTUALLY effective. It makes sense, & it\u2019s only natural. Because of this \u2013 sites like Pinterest have become one of the top search engines for home-remedies, DIY & general self-improvement. In fact, there is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,66,37,19],"tags":[43,44,47],"class_list":["post-966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drain-cleaning","category-plumbing","category-plumbing-services","category-plumbing-tips","tag-clean","tag-design","tag-roof"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=966"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2126,"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966\/revisions\/2126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/temp.saintpeteplumbing.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}