Do you have occasional nightmares about your bathroom toilet breaking down or overflowing? You aren’t alone. Toilet plumbing is a major concern for many people since the consequences of a broken toilet are unpleasant.
If you have any issue with your toilet or you need another kind of bathroom plumbing in Uniontown, OH, you can reach our Crown Group plumbers 24/7 for emergency repair assistance. We know you’d rather not have to make that call, of course, so to help you out we’ve written down a guide of objects never to flush down the toilet. Knowing what goes in the bowl and what doesn’t will help prevent the majority of repair troubles.
#1. Actual trash
This is an important mantra to remember: “Do not treat the toilet like a trash can.” Actual trash, like paper, plastic, cigarette butts, etc. should be disposed of elsewhere. The plumbing of the toilet isn’t designed to handle most inorganic materials.
#2. Paper towels and facial tissues
These objects may not sound like they would cause a problem for a toilet. After all, you put toilet paper down there. However, there’s an important difference: toilet paper is not absorbent and is designed to fall apart with water exposure. Paper towels and facial tissues are absorbent—they’ll swell up inside the plumbing and easily create clogging.
#3. Sanitary napkins
Not only are these too large for toilet drains to handle, but they’re also absorbent and will create the same troubles as paper towels and facial tissues.
#4. Sanitary wipes
This is a major one because far too many people think these wipes can and should be flushed down the toilet. Their manufacturers are partially at fault for this because they claim these moist towelettes are “flushable.” They aren’t. These wipes clump and congeal together, eventually turning into a massive lump of emulsion. This not only causes problems for your plumbing, but it will also affect the general sewer system.
#5. Cotton swabs and other cotton products
“Remember, don’t flush Q-tips.” It’s an old piece of advice but worth heeding. Cotton doesn’t break down in water like toilet paper does and will clump together. The sticks of cotton swabs have also been known to get stuck in sewage pump motors and cause them to burn out.
#6. Medicine
This includes pills and liquids. The reason for this isn’t the protect the toilet but to protect the environment. The medicine won’t break down in the toilet water and can end up in places it shouldn’t be where it will harm the environment.
#7. Cat litter
We know it’s tempting just to dump this in the toilet rather than haul it out to the trash. But cat litter is designed to clump! That makes it one of the quickest ways to clog up your toilet.
#8. Bleach
Yes, bleach the cleaner. Bleach is an effective disinfectant and cleaning solution for many surfaces, but we don’t recommend you use it on a toilet. The reason is bleach’s strength: it can wear away at pipes and create leaks and other problems.
When in doubt, remember this: only human waste and toilet paper should go down the toilet. Keep everything else out.