DIY Wet Wipes (Why Flushing Regular Wipes Will Clog Your Drains)

What happens when you flush a toilet?

Toilets are one of the greatest inventions, especially since it means that everyone can use the bathroom and not have to see their waste sitting there for months, years, or even decades like with an outhouse. Since toilets will flush away the waste, then it makes it more sanitary to keep them in a home, whereas before, many homes used to have outhouses.

The problem with a toilet is that many people don’t realize what can and cannot be flushed, and they’ll treat a toilet as a garbage can and throw anything in there. You may be able to throw clothes, shoes, toys and more into the garbage, but would you flush these down in your toilet?

Some people actually think they can flush anything that the toilet can take, and only after getting a backed up toilet and an over flooded bathroom, as well as serious clogs, do they realize they’ve made a grave mistake. When you flush things down the toilet, they go through the pipes, and if they don’t get stuck, they end up going to a sewage treatment center, which then may have to go through the messy process of separating the good from the bad, especially cleaning the water that through the center.

If a toilet has been filled with prescription medication, wet wipes, feminine products and more, then this is extra work for the sewage treatment center, and by the way, prescription drugs easily dissolved in water, which causes a whole other set of problems.

Flushing Wet Wipes Can Affect Everyone

One of the biggest problems today is the fact that people are still flushing wet wipes down the toilet because they think they can. Some people think of wet wipes as something similar to toilet paper, and this not only isn’t the case but couldn’t be further from the truth.

Toilet paper has an easier time degrading once it’s flushed, and in 24 hours it can disappear. Wet wipes can go all the way to the sewage treatment center in one piece, and one piece can stick to other pieces, which can eventually cause a clog and a lot of problems later on.

Here are some problems caused by wet wipes:

• Wipes go through the sewer's whole
• Wipes take time to biodegrade
• Wipes can cause clogs
• The clogs can affect your home and other homes
• The sewage plants can suffer machine damage
• Getting the wipes out of the sewage can be costly

Since wet wipes are causing such problems for certain cities, they’ve had to put out warnings about flushing the wipes, but many people are still disregarding these warnings and flushing the wipes anyways.

A higher sewage bill, fines, or lawsuits may have to take the place of the warnings in order to get people to understand the seriousness of flushing these items down the toilet. The only thing that should ever go into a toilet is human waste as well as toilet paper, and nothing else.

Don’t Believe the Label “Flushable”

Many feel that because the label on the wet wipes says “flushable,” that they can flush it, and even if it’s as biodegradable, that doesn’t mean it should be flushed, so reading the label is imperative because there may be fine print that tells you otherwise.

Product makers have simply put the word ‘flushable’ on these wipes because of the fact that it helps them to sell more, and it makes a person think they can easily use it and flush it away, which is not true. Unless a product is toilet paper, then calling it ‘flushable’ is basically untrue because it may flush, but it causes a lot of problems for the toilet, the sewage system, and even the septic tank. Those that continue flushing these wet wipes may eventually have to get toilet repair.

When you get the label ‘flushable’ on an item, such as wet wipes, consider it as reading a label for food products. Just because something says low-fat, low-calorie, or low sodium, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s everything that it says, and it can be misleading you, just so you’ll purchase the item.

Flushing Wipes Can Cost You Big Time

If you have been flushing your wet wipes and still continue to do so, this could end up costing you a lot of money.

Not only will you have to pay to get a plumber out to fix a clog that is created, but the clog in itself may also be bad enough or big enough to cause other problems in the home, which all have to be addressed if you want your plumbing to work properly again.

Some have ended up paying hundreds of dollars or even thousands of dollars to fix problems that started by flushing wet wipes down the toilet. You can choose to throw your wet wipes in the garbage, but many have opted out of this because they feel it’s not hygienic.

If the wet wipes are thrown in the garbage, then allow it to be in a garbage can that has a sealed lid or a closable lid, so the smell won’t be a problem. There are even garbage cans that open automatically with the use of a sensor, so you can dispose of the wipes without ever having to touch the garbage lid.

Your Plumber Can Rid Your Home of Clogs

If you have clogs in your home and need toilet repair, then call a plumber out, and if need be, they can also do drain cleaning for your home as well. Since not everyone knows that wet wipes shouldn’t be flushed, there are many who will suffer from clogs before they get the message that they should never be flushing their wipes, so getting a plumber to clear the clog should be your next step.

Get a plumber to do drain cleaning and more by calling Roman Plumbing Inc. at (727) 858-3412 in Murrieta, FL.