Thanksgiving entertaining is stressful. Add a plumbing problem and you’ve got a recipe for disaster! Use the tips below to make sure a plumbing problem doesn’t become an unwanted guest.
In the Kitchen – Drains
Thanksgiving means a lot of cooking, which can also lead to a lot of clogged drains. The easiest way to prevent clogs is to dispose of grease, oil, and fat in the garbage – do not let them go down the drain! It’s also best to dispose of as much food as possible in the trash. It’s also a good idea to let hot water flush your kitchen sink drain after washing dishes – run the water for about a minute to help prevent buildup, which can lead to clogs.
In the Kitchen – Garbage Disposals
In the rush of holiday hosting, don’t give in to the temptation to quickly clean up plates, pots, and pans by throwing scraps of food, cooking oil, fats, and grease down the kitchen drain and switching on your garbage disposal. Not only do you run the risk of breaking your garbage disposal, but you also risk a kitchen sink backup. Here is a list of items that should never go down your kitchen drain:
- Fats, oils, and grease – While they go down the drain as liquid, they will congeal causing clogs further down your system.
- Starchy foods – Rice, pasta, and potatoes break down into mush and can clog your drain and gum up your disposal.
- Fibrous vegetables and peels – Celery, corn husks, artichokes, and asparagus become stringy material that balls up and causes clogs.
- Eggshells, shellfish, and coffee grounds – They don’t decompose or break down easily, so a large accumulation will clog the drain.
In the Bathroom – Drains
Extra guests in your home mean extra people using your toilets, sinks, bathtubs, and showers. One way to keep your bathroom drains clear is to cover all the drains with strainers to catch all the stuff that can cause nasty clogs.
In the Bathroom – Toilets
Your toilets get an extra workout when you’ve got a house full of guests. You can take some steps to keep them flushing smoothly:
- Consider switching to one-ply toilet paper while you’ve got house guests. One-ply toilet paper is simply thinner and will disintegrate faster and more completely than two-ply. High-quality, name-brand one-ply toilet paper is soft yet strong and absorbent.
- Do not offer guests flushable wipes. These are guaranteed to clog your toilet quickly. Flushable wipes should always be disposed of in the trash and never flushed down your toilet.
- Make sure to have a trash can in plain sight so guests can easily throw away used facial tissue and other products.
Throughout the House – Water Heater
Between cooking and house guests, the Thanksgiving holiday calls for a lot hotter water than normal. The easiest ways to make sure you have enough hot water are to take shorter showers, wash your laundry in cold water (be sure to have cold-water detergent on hand) and run your dishwasher in the middle of the night when there’s less demand for hot water.
Wishing you a happy, festive, and plumbing-problem-free Thanksgiving with all of your family and friends!
