Finally everything at a glance: The 82 best “brilliant tricks” summarized in a high-quality book. Here you can order it.
It does not happen the first time. It does not happen the second time. But if the wrong things get into the drain again and again, at some point it will be: he is clogged. The water is only difficult to remove and unpleasant odors rise from the overflow.
A clogged drainpipe is annoying, but can be fixed. However, there are also things that have serious consequences for humans and nature when they are dumped in the sink or sink. Here are some examples of what you should probably dispose of differently if you want to protect the drain and the environment.
1) oil
Olives, dried tomatoes, sardines: The Mediterranean cuisine entices with pickled dishes. In most cases, the oil is then simply dumped into the spout at the end. There also land excess dripping or the remaining salad dressing. It should be remembered that fats are not water soluble. Over time, they deposit on the tube walls, become solid and form the basis for a proper grafting.
In the kitchen oil residues should always be disposed of in the residual waste. So that does not lead to a mess, you can collect the oil in a screw jar. Oils that are not intended for consumption, on the other hand, usually have nothing to look for in household waste, but are hazardous waste. Old engine oil can be returned in the respective shop; heavily smeared fingers should first be cleaned with a cloth (and disposed of properly) before washing one’s hands.
2) leftovers
“Anything that finds its way through the drain strainer will do no harm.” This is how some people think when they wash dishes and cookware. This is how beans, spaghetti and rice grains end up in the drain, settle and swell up.
In addition to the risk of constipation but threatened with the food remains, a rat plague. In search of the origin of the delicacies , the rats follow the tubes and allow themselves to be stopped by the drain sieve – but who wants a dead rat in its siphon?
3) coffee grounds
It is one of the most persistent home remedies myths , you can cleanse his drain with coffee grounds. It is said that the coffee powder looks like fine sandpaper that removes deposits from the pipes. Now, coffee is indeed good for many things, but as a drain cleaner, the powder is devastating. Because the deposits consist to a large extent of fatty compounds. What many do not know: Coffee powder also has a high fat content . As fat and fat join together, old coffee grounds in the sink aggravate the problem of constipation rather than being part of the solution. So collect the coffee grounds and use it as a biodegradable plant fertilizer.
4) flour
In the past, teens hung their posters on the wall with self-made paste. It was rock solid and all you needed was water and flour.
It follows: Never rinse flour with water in the drain! If flour should still end up in the sink during baking, you can wipe it up with a damp kitchen towel and put it into the household waste. Even with the often-heard tip to polish stainless steel with flour, one should be careful. In the case of home-made, flour-based cosmetic products, it is important to use flour with as little gluten as possible or comparable glues.
5) hair
Besides fat, hair is one of the main causes of clumped pipes. It’s not just long hair that’s the problem. Together with soap scraps, even beard stubble can pile up into a dense plug.
When dry shaving or trimming the beard, it helps to lay a damp kitchen towel in the washbasin. This will catch the stubble and throw it into the trash. When wet shaving, you should always run a lot of water when cleaning the blade or use a wash basin.
6) stickers
On the fruit in the supermarket emblazoned a small colorful sticker. If you wash off the fruit, it sometimes lands in the drainage sieve and receives his coup de grace with his fingertip – out of sight, out of mind. However, these stickers are waterproof and nestle against the pipe wall. A few of these are no problem for the drain. In connection with other deposits, however, they can overflow the barrel or basin.
7) Plant protection products
Threatens the house plants due to lice and Mehltaubefall the sudden end, grab many hobby gardeners to the chemical club. The remains of these crop protection agents can not be eliminated in the treatment plant. Unhindered, they enter the waters and cause damage in the animal and plant world. Expired packs should therefore not migrate into the residual waste, but to the value and Schadstoffhof.
8) Paints and varnishes
The walls of the bedroom get a new color and also the old bedside table has earned a fresh coat of paint. Then brush and paint roller are rinsed out under the tap. This is how similar renovation works are done by many do-it-yourselfers. But that is twice problematic. On the one hand, wall paint and paint stick to the drainage pipes. On the other hand, harmful solvents can enter the wastewater. These are hazardous waste and although some wall paints today do not require solvents, they are still available in many colors as well as in all lacquers.
So what do you do? On the one hand brush and paint roller should be closed as possible airtight in a plastic bag for longer painting work. So the paint does not dry and you save the cleaning in the painting breaks. After painting, let the brushes soak in a bucket of diluent and then rub them off with a cloth. The cloth and become unusable brush receives the local pollutant. Since brush cleaners are also made of solvents, they should be used sparingly; In no case should they be used to clean your own hands.
In the case of wall paint, paint residues can also be thoroughly dried and disposed of with household waste. Here the solvents have already evaporated. This does not apply to paints!
9) medicines
Almost everywhere in nature there are drug residues. Part of it comes through our urine into the sewage. One part was simply poured into the sink. Although drugs are not directly hazardous to humans in wastewater, they pose a burden to the environment. And wastewater treatment is becoming increasingly expensive. Because of course no one wants to have drugs in the drinking water that are not meant for him.
Why are only a few pharmacies nowadays offering to accept expired medicines? Because residual waste is burned to a large extent. Burning destroys the critical components of the medication. In principle, unused tablets, ointments and tinctures can therefore be disposed of via the usual residual waste. However, there is no uniform regulation. Here’s how to get rid of old drugs in your area. By no means, but over the drain.
Sink and sink are not garbage chutes! It can certainly not be avoided that more than just water flows through the drain from time to time. But if you pay attention to the above, you will relieve the pipes, health and the environment. They will thank you. And you too – because a clogged drain is anything but a pleasure.
You can find even more ingenious tricks, projects, household tips and ideas in our new book, which you can order here .
