Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Draining Advice



We have three toilets in our house. Two were sluggish. One was downright comatose.

And I was throwing a party. It was either call a plumber or rent a port-a-potty.

Enter Josh the Plumber.

He snaked our toilets and offered a bowlful of drain tips. Which I'm passing along to you.

1. NEVER use Charmin toilet paper. No matter how tempted you are. Even if it's hugely on sale. Even when they tell you it's ultra strong and ultra soft.

Apparently, Charmin' is more like a kissing cousin to paper towel (thick) than to other brands of toilet paper (thin).

2. When you pay your rent/mortgage (that is, once a month), dump 1 cup of bleach down each drain in your house. Let sit for 30 minutes, then pour down hot water.

3. For sluggish toilets in high-calcium areas (like San Diego), pour ten seconds' worth or 1/4 cup of CLR down the little white pipe thingie (yes, this is a professional plumber term) under the lid at the back of your toilet. Let sit for 30 minutes, then flush.

4. For kids' parties, remove paper towel and Kleenex from the bathroom.

5. For kids' parties, only put out single ply toilet paper.

6. Hold kids' parties at Chuck E. Cheez or at a local park. (Kidding. This wasn't part of his advice.)

And that, my dear friends, is a little (probably unexpected) practical advice from my corner of the world.


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22 comments:

  1. Vodka MomOctober 14, 2009 at 5:01 PM

    Number 6.


    for sure!!!

    That was a fantastic list!! I'm off to begin the pouring of the bleach.

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  2. BarrieOctober 14, 2009 at 5:19 PM

    I'm rather partial to cosmic bowling parties as well!

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  3. StacyOctober 14, 2009 at 5:21 PM

    Oh, that explains a lot about the bathroom in my old apartment. The evils of Charmin and high calcium.

    Tell Josh the Plumber that he's awesome.

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  4. Sheri Perl-OshinsOctober 14, 2009 at 6:35 PM

    That was great advice! Can you believe I don't have a bottle of bleach in my house? I have Clorox Clean-up but I don't think that is exactly the same as good ol' bleach. Am I wrong?

    Oh! I have another to add to your list, make sure if it's a new toilet that they remove all the Styrofoam. When we first moved in, our toilet was very sluggish and kept clogging. The builder (about 24 years old) thought he needed to give me a lesson on how to flush. I wanted to ground him. After much debating on my flushing abilities, he had a plumber check the toilet, who found it stuffed with Styrofoam from when it was packed. Nice.

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  5. debraOctober 14, 2009 at 7:25 PM

    No bleach of you have a septic system, though. A bit o'Ridex or yeast will keep it moving :-)

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  6. Charles GramlichOctober 14, 2009 at 8:55 PM

    That's some interesting advice. Thanks for saving my drains.

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  7. SarakasticOctober 14, 2009 at 9:01 PM

    Thank you Josh the Plumber

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  8. TeresaOctober 14, 2009 at 9:06 PM

    What will Mr. Whipple say? We not only can't SQUEEZE the Charmin, we can't even USE the Charmin! Thanks for the tips.

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  9. chocolatecovereddaydreams.blogspot.comOctober 14, 2009 at 9:53 PM

    Good tips from Josh the Plumber. Hope he gave you a discount for spreading the word.

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  10. CrystalOctober 15, 2009 at 5:44 AM

    I'll have to break the news to Bri...Charmin is his favorite. He'll be sad. :(

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  11. BethOctober 15, 2009 at 6:38 AM

    Thanks for sharing this info. Without going into the gruesome details, these tips are timely and very helpful!

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  12. AnonymousOctober 15, 2009 at 7:34 AM

    Heh heh. I think there's a lot to be said for just keeping ALL kids out of bathrooms.
    I'm glad to know these drain tips, thanks Barrie.

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  13. BarrieOctober 15, 2009 at 7:46 AM

    Sheri, I don't know if Chlorox Clean-up is the same thing as plain old bleach. I have a big bottle of bleach, Target-brand, because I use it to whiten my tea mugs. And now to clear my drains!

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  14. writtenwyrddOctober 15, 2009 at 8:55 AM

    Thanks for the tips, I'm sure I'll at least be putting the CLR one to use do to my very hard water.

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  15. AllieOctober 15, 2009 at 11:53 AM

    Good advice! Thank you!!!!

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  16. Kelly H-YOctober 15, 2009 at 12:06 PM

    Yikes ... we buy the Costco-sized packs of Charmin ... we've just learned to flush more often! :-)

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  17. Keri MikulskiOctober 15, 2009 at 3:01 PM

    I love Charmin. :)

    Thanks for the advice!! :)

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  18. kayerjOctober 15, 2009 at 5:54 PM

    good advice--my sink is sluggish.

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  19. Barbara MartinOctober 15, 2009 at 6:46 PM

    I was going to suggest bleach once a month in the quantity mentioned. Works perfectly and its natural too.

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  20. Heart and SoulOctober 17, 2009 at 10:21 AM

    You are great! I am loving your site! Can't wait to see more of you :)

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  21. UnknownOctober 19, 2009 at 10:41 AM

    LOVE it! But WHAT does the bleach do? I'm just curious. Especially love #6! LOL LOL

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  22. AnonymousJanuary 26, 2010 at 1:35 PM

    This is hot if you like eating fast food sometimes. Although I don't recommend eating out a lot but you can still
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    Burger King.








    [url=http://www.mb01.com/lnk.asp?o=2588&c=918271&a=25678]Eat for Free at McDonalds and Burger King[/url]

    ReplyDelete

Comments are always welcome!