Plumber Tips: 5 Dessert Ingredients To Avoid Washing Down The Drain | Hinckley, IL
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Are you a baker or do you have a sweet tooth and enjoy making desserts in your free time? One of the most difficult things about making dessert or some type of pastry is that you’re almost bound to make a mess (unless you’ve had a lot of practice). Most homeowners will take the easy way out when cleaning their kitchen by tossing as many things down the drain as possible.
If this speaks to you, it’s important that you cut this bad habit out as soon as possible. If you don’t, you’re going to find yourself calling a plumber in Hinckley, IL fairly regularly. Not only will your plumbing require more drain cleaning services, but it will also be more prone to failure and damages, like cracks and leaks.
Most dessert ingredients appear quite innocent. If a plumber hasn’t already told you to avoid washing these ingredients down the drain, you probably wouldn’t have thought about how dangerous and problematic these ingredients can be.
#1. Flour
If you love pastries and dessert, then there’s a really good chance that you’ll have some leftover flour at the end of the project. Cleaning up flour can be quite time-consuming and annoying. You’ll need to grab a damp paper towel to wipe down all surfaces. Surely, it would be easier to simply wash everything down the drain.
Unfortunately, according to many plumbers, flour is actually one of the most dangerous ingredients to flush down the drain. It’s really easy for this ingredient to harden. When you combine flour and water, you basically get glue. If you allow this concoction to go down your drains, you’re going to eventually need to call a plumbing company for drain cleaning services. The worst part is that the flour can harden and will also trap other ingredients with it.
#2. Sugar and Syrup
Do you know what else makes glue? Sugar and syrup with water. In fact, syrup, by itself, is already like a glue. If you wash it down the drain, you’re only going to have to deal with a nightmare at a later time. The best thing that you can do is wipe as much of the sugar and syrup as possible onto a paper towel and toss it in the trash.
Another worrisome thing about sugar and syrup is that it’s an energy source. If sugar and syrup make their way into your drains, they can easily become a buffet for bacteria, fungi, virus and other microorganisms. You’re turning your home into the perfect playground for them.
#3. Eggshells
You don’t have to be a pastry chef or a dessert lover to like eggs. It’s basically a staple in most recipes. You’re going to need it to bake cookies, make cakes, make mayonnaise and more. The important thing is knowing what to do with the eggshells after. Many plumbers find that they uncover troves of ground-up eggshells when they clean the drains. While eggshells, by themselves, aren’t a danger, they easily mix with other ingredients and become a blockage.
Instead of washing the eggshells down the drain, we highly recommend that you grind it up and sprinkle it onto your soil in the yard. Eggshells contain a lot of nutrients and vitamins. They’re great fertilizers that can make a huge difference! Try it out. You might find that you don’t need to purchase as much fertilizer afterward.
#4. Butter
Much like how you should not wash fats and grease down the drain, you also should avoid getting any butter into the entire sink as it is. Butter can wreak havoc on your drains and become a major headache to deal with if you’re not careful.
The worst part is that butter can liquefy and then congeal and build up over time. Butter can easily create water-resistant barriers, which means that they can make your drains a better environment for unwanted microorganisms. Worst of all, butter can be difficult to remove even with professional drain cleaning services.
#5. Seeds and Nuts
Last but not least, we also have seeds and shells. If you think that some of the softer nuts, like peanuts, are safe for your drains, think again! Your garbage disposal is not a grinder and shouldn’t be used in a similar manner. More importantly, you shouldn’t grind up peanuts and try to wash them down the drain. Think about it this way. What happens when you grind up peanuts? You get peanut butter!
Now, imagine washing peanut butter down the drain. Can you imagine how difficult that’s going to be? The viscosity of the peanut butter means that it will likely get stuck somewhere along the way, and that it will become sludge there. This sludge will also welcome other items and obstructions.
Call Us to Speak with a Plumber in Hinckley, IL
Don’t let these worries prevent you from having a good time baking and making desserts at home. You only need to change some of your lifestyle habits in order to protect your plumbing and to keep your plumber happy.
However, if you’ve messed up, give Just in Time a call. Our plumbers are licensed, insured and also up-to-date with all the latest technologies, techniques and plumbing appliances. Not only will we be able to help you find energy-efficient solutions, but we’ll also walk you through the entire process, so you’re well-informed about the entire thing.
If you’ve noticed that there’s something wrong with your plumbing, give us a call, and we’ll send one of our plumbers out immediately. Our plumbers are trained on how to deal with all types of plumbing problems, so they can easily diagnose the problem and provide you with multiple solutions to choose from. Choosing the right solution can be difficult at times when you don’t know what you’re looking for or what you need. That’s why our team is always keen on explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each solution in detail. We make sure that you’re well-informed!