The Most Common Causes of Slow Drains in South Elgin Homes

If you have water going down slowly, you likely have a drain clog. So, what’s causing your slow drain? These are the most common reasons for a slow drain:

Hair

Nothing stops up a drain faster than hair going down the sink. Every day we clean out bathroom sinks, showers, and tubs that are blocked with hair, making water go down slowly. If you’re not using something to block hair from going down the drain, washing long hair in a tub or shower or getting ready over a bathroom sink can allow that hair to accidentally go down the drain. Over time water will go down more slowly and will eventually stop going down at all unless the hair is removed.

Unlike organic buildup, which can be dissolved with DIY solutions, hair will remain in the drain until it’s removed using a grabber tool or suction apparatus. When hair is the cause of your blockage you will need to pull it out, not push it down, to get water flowing normally again.

Water Minerals

For homes with hard water, mineral buildup is a common source of slow draining. Calcium, magnesium, and other minerals can create scale inside of pipes, restricting water flow. This mineral buildup creates a rough edge inside pipes, which catches more debris, making the slow draining problem worse until the pipe is completely clogged.

Unfortunately, without treating your water, removing a clog due to mineral buildup will just buy you more time, not fix the problem for good. And, if you’re experiencing a clog in one drain, all your drains are susceptible to the same kind of clogging because they’re all using the same water source. For that reason, it’s recommended that you use a water softener system if you have hard water. Your pipes will thank you for it!

Soap Scum

Soap residue can be the main cause of your slow drain if you’re using something like all natural, high-fat soap for washing. But more often, soap scum acts as the binding agent that causes other things (hair, natural minerals, etc.) to stop up your drain. It can settle in the drain’s p-trap, causing water to go down slowly.

Luckily, soap scum is the easiest thing to remove from your drains, using things like hot water or vinegar and baking soda. It’s always worth it to try these kinds of DIY drain clog remedies to determine if soap scum might be the cause of your slow water draining problems before paying to have a plumber come out and tackle the problem.

Grease

Grease, fat, and oil are common causes of slow draining in kitchen sinks. When these substances are hot, they’re liquid. But when they hit cool water in your pipes, they quickly thicken up into a sludge that stops up drains and is hard to remove.

Kitchen sinks where garbage disposals are installed are especially prone to this kind of clogging because when food waste is put down the disposal, the fats in and on those foods can harden and cause drain problems. That’s why it’s so important to exercise caution when putting food like meat down a garbage disposal and to regularly clean out your disposal with the right products.

Foreign Objects

Even when you’re maintaining your drains well things can still go down the drain (and if you have children, you may not even know something has gone down there). Small items like jewelry, cotton swabs, floss, bottle caps, or bath toys can end up going down the drain, blocking water flow. If you end up with a foreign object down your drain, call a professional plumber to have it removed so you can get water going down normally again and avoid causing bigger plumbing problems in the future.

When you need a local South Elgin plumber to tackle your slow drain, give us a call at 1 (800) 674-9130. Every day we fix clogged drains in {{CTY}} homes and businesses. We’ll get your drain clog fixed quickly!