7 Things You Shouldn’t Flush Down the Toilet
Where would we be without toilets, the miracle of modern convenience? You’d probably rather not think about it. But when you flush the wrong items down toilet, you might find out what it’s like to live without one. Don’t turn your toilet into a front-page news story by flushing what you shouldn’t. To avoid a cracked or burst sewer pipe, do not drain these 7 items down the toilet.
Table of Contents
Things to Keep Away From the Toilet
Tampons & Other Feminine Hygiene Products
You cannot flush tampons down the toilet because they are neither small enough to fit through the pipes or water soluble—meaning they won’t dissolve in the sewer water. It only takes a couple of these down the drain before you’ll need to call a licensed plumber.
Prescription Medications
This is less about a clogged toilet and more about safety. Flushing prescription drugs down the toilet is dangerous because water treatment facilities are not equipped to filter them out. Drugs can slip through the water purification process and stay in the tap and ground water in your city or suburb.
Baby Wipes
Despite what the package may say, “flushable” baby wipes cannot be flushed town the toilet. Unlike toilet paper that dissolves quickly in water, wet wipes stick around and clog sewer systems. In fact, a city in Minnesota filed a lawsuit against six “flushable” wipes companies because of the sewage problems their products caused.
Paper Towels
Paper towels are designed to hold up against messes, which makes their breakdown process much slower than toilet paper. If you flush too many paper towels down the toilet, you will be required to handle the negative consequences of a sewage backup in your yard or house.
Dental Floss
Flushing dental floss is practically asking for your toilet to clog. Floss doesn’t dissolve in water, and multiple strings will tangle up together, creating a ball of trouble for you in New Jersey. With enough floss built up, nothing else will be able to drain through.
Oil or Grease
Most homeowners are aware of the damaging effects of flushing oil or grease down the drain. On the other hand, a large number of people believe it’s safe to drain oil down the toilet. To avoid a clogged toilet, we recommend only flushing toilet paper and waste down the toilet. As soon as hot, liquid grease cools down, it will stick to and build up on the sides of your drain pipes until a blockage forms.
Kitty Litter
One would think that flushing the cat’s waste down the toilet isn’t much different than flushing your own. However, cat litter is made up of clay and dirt—some of the worst things to put in your toilet. Unless you can toilet-train your cat, we recommend taking their messes out to the garbage can.
If you’re having trouble with your toilet, give our team a call by phone at (732) 201-3305. Our team of emergency plumbers offers dependable, fast, and safe toilet replacement and repair services to households in areas of New Jersey such as Brick, Middletown, Trenton, Old Bridge, Tom’s River, and Elizabeth. We also offer other types of plumbing and HVAC services for malfunctioning water heaters, clogged sewer lines, broken air conditioners, inefficient sump pumps, and cracked water lines.
