Why Flushing Regular Wipes Will Clog Your Drains

The Debate Over Flushable Wipes

Have you ever bought a product, such as ice cream, and it’s touted as being a certain flavor, it looks like and tastes like a certain flavor, but after reading the fine print, you find out that it’s not the flavor you thought it was? This can be very disappointing, especially if you had your heart set on getting a particular type of ice cream.

The same problem is going on with flushable wipes because many of them are being sold as flushable as well as disposable, and only half of that may be true.

They can be disposed of, but people wrongfully think that they can be disposed of in the toilet, which causes tons of clogs in many toilets as well as millions of dollars to fix the problems.

Several cities have gone as far as to tell the users of these wipes to quit flushing them down the toilet. Although many cities are only giving verbal warnings, you may see that these cities will start suing people who are flushing these wipes in massive numbers because of the cost to clean up the mess.

Many who live in London know about the 15-ton clog that they found in their sewage system, and even though this is the biggest clog recorded, many wet wipe clogs have been found in the sewage system in the USA.

Sewage treatment plants end up getting massive clogs that are mostly comprised of wet wipes, and this is why many are encouraged to stop flushing them. Typically, those who flush one wipe at a time will see that it goes down the drain, but flushing several wipes becomes a problem, especially since these wipes take weeks to fully dissolved as opposed to toilet paper, which dissolves in under 24 hours.

The clogs caused by these wipes will always need the help of a plumber to fix, which can end up being very expensive.

Disposable Wipes Should Go in the Trash

Disposable wipes should really be going into the trash and not into the toilet, but adults find themselves embarrassed to throw dirty wipes that they have used into the trash, even if it’s in their own home.

Another problem is that throwing these wipes into the trash without wrapping them in plastic or something else can allow a bad smell to be coming from the garbage, which means that the garbage will have to be disposed of on a daily basis.

A person has to find a way to throw the wipes in the trash, or the person should go back to using toilet paper because of the damage that wipes can cause to their drains.

It may be necessary to get toilet repair if you continue flushing wipes down the drain, especially if it’s in large numbers, which is possible if a person only uses wet wipes as opposed to toilet paper.

Using toilet paper means that you may have to wet it, in order to get the clean feeling that you get from using wet wipes, but it will be a lot less costly to use the toilet paper, especially since they are less likely to cause a clog within your drainage system. As long as you don’t use wads of toilet paper that are nearly too big to flush, then you should be able to flush toilet paper without a problem.

You can seriously cause damage to your pipes with wipes.

If you choose to use wet wipes all the time in your home, then be prepared for the problems that you may experience, such as:

• Clogs in the drains
• Backed up sink
• Backed up toilet
• Clogged tub/shower drain
• Garbage disposal won't empty waste
• No unclogging methods you do will work
• Costly unclogging repairs
• Need for drain cleaning

Many of these problems are avoidable if you choose not to use wet wipes, and the simple fact that it can cost you a lot of money to rectify any problem caused by these wipes should steer you away from using them, even though they may be very useful in the home.

Those that have drainage pipes that may have tree roots snaking into them will have a large problem eventually, even if they only flush one wipe at a time. If a single wipe goes down the drain, then it can eventually tangle on the tree root, which can cause a very large clog when a lot of other things that go down the drain gets caught on the roots as well as the wipes.

Even if there is no problem with tree roots in your sewage pipes, you’re still taking a risk by using these wet wipes, so avoiding them altogether is the best choice.

Get Repair Today

You’re going to need drain cleaning, especially if you already have to get toilet repair because of what the wipes have done to your sewage system. It’s best not to wait until the clog is bad enough to where you are unable to use any of the drains in your home because they are backed up.

What’s even worse is the fact that the plumber may not be able to get out the clog by simply snaking the drains, which is one of the first things they do to get rid of a clog. Using an electric snake may also allow them to use a camera that goes into the drains to help them find the clog, but there is never a guarantee that the clog will be remedied by using the snake.

Hydro jetting is another way to unclog a drain, but it may be necessary to unearth the pipes in order to clean out the clog, which will end up costing you a lot of money in the end.

Toilet repair can be performed by PlumbCrazy in Abingdon, MD at (410) 679-7575.