Did you just move into a Beacon Hill apartment for rent,or perhaps your just purchased a new North End condo. What ever the case, here is one Boston real estate tip you should always keep in mind
Trust us, you’ll be saving yourself from unnecessary stress and excess expenditure if you avoid flushing these items.
Your average toilet flush may handle a lot of natural waste—and toilet paper—but it isn’t designed to handle anything else. The best way to increase the longevity of your toilets and avoid annoying plumbing issues (plus lots of extra plunger time) is to keep all other waste and trash away from your toilets. Take a look at the worst things to go down a toilet: Maybe it’s time for some new rules around your house.
Tissues and paper towels
While they may seem a little like toilet paper, they are not. The materials used to make tissues, paper towels and similar products do not dissolve easily and are far more likely to clog your Beacon Hill toilet, as well as cause problems for your septic tank or at your water treatment facility. Make sure you clean the germiest spots in your bathroom.
Cat litter
Even if your cat litter says that it is “flushable,” don’t flush it. All cat litter is bad for your toilet. It lingers in your pipes, refuses to dissolve easily and interacts poorly with your sewer system. If the temptation to use the toilet is too much for a family member in charge of cleaning litter, then put a box of disposable plastic bags or similar poop-scooping solutions by the litter box so that it’s less of an issue.
Yes, disposable diapers tend to get covered in waste. Unfortunately, toilets were not made for any kind of disposable diaper: Trying to flush these diapers is an incredibly common cause of serious pipe clogs that need professional attention. Avoid this problem, and provide another option for dealing with diapers. Here are
Tampons
While the toilet is frequently a handy option to get rid of tampons and other feminine hygiene products, it’s also a bad idea. Tampons can easily create clogs deep in pipes and should never be flushed.
Condoms
Condoms are another case where convenience shouldn’t trump toilet care. Throw them in the trash instead of flushing: Both condom materials (typically latex) and associated lubricants are bad for your plumbing.
This includes cotton swabs, cotton balls, Q-tips, and any other associated product. Cotton is excellent at absorbing water, but it doesn’t break down easily. The combination is a dire one for your plumbing.
Any type of plastic
It doesn’t matter if it’s packaging plastic or a Band-Aid, you can’t flush plastics down a Beacon Hill apartment toilet. Plastic doesn’t dissolve and can cause many problems in your pipes—if they get that far after a toilet flush.
Dental floss
Yes, even small items like dental floss can cause trouble for your toilet. It’s stringy, doesn’t dissolve and can bundle around other objects to form larger clogs.
Any type of food is off limits, no matter how soft it may be. The same is true of any leftover pieces, shells, bones or grounds that you want to get rid of. These belong in neither your pipes nor your garbage disposal. Throw them in the trash or compost.
