We all want to take good care of our homes and ourselves. This usually results in a lot of investment in cleaning and hygiene products. It’s hard not to get taken in by all those adverts that make them all look super effective! Unfortunately, a lot of the products you see in stores can actually be very damaging to you and the environment of your home.
Specifically, we will be taking a look at the products that damage your plumbing system. Those pipes are like the blood vessels of your home. Do not underestimate the importance of keeping them safe!
Bleach
A lot of people see bleach as an all-purpose, super-effective means to tackle any problem with plumbing. The temptation is certainly there to just pour it down the sink whenever you have a problem. After all, how much damage can bleach really do?
Bleach isn’t meant to go down your drain! The problem, especially with the much thicker varieties, is that bleach won’t wash away properly. It will build up in your pipes and could lead to dangerous fumes filling the area for an extended period of time. It can also lead to your pipes getting clogged. Speaking of which…
Anti-clogging liquids
The adverts make it look so easy! When you’ve got something blocking your drains, just pour one of those thick liquids down them. Those animations on television make it look they just dissolve the clogging material in a matter of moments!
While these things can be very effective, they can also cause damage to your pipes. They’re loaded with chemicals you’re best keeping out of the air of your home. These chemicals and also cause slow but effective erosion to the interiors of your draining system. We go to these kinds of products because it appears to be the quick and cheap method. But it may not be the best solution if you want to ensure the long-term health of your plumbing! Faults with your plumbing should generally always be inspected by – you guessed it – a plumber.
Antibacterial products
Sometime in the 2000s, television started being flooded with commercials for these things. Sprays, bleaches, and other cleaners that specialize in killing bugs and bacteria in extreme numbers. Usually, these things come with the claim that they “kill 99% of bacteria”, or even “99.9% of bacteria”. These products play on the fears that many of us have of pathogens in our homes. We hate being ill, and when we get ill we tend to lay the blame on germs in our home.
The problem is your average cleaning products do the job just fine. A lot of the “extra” bacteria that are killed by these other products are actually useful in many ways. For example, let’s say you’re raising children. When you kill all the bacteria in your home, you disrupt the development of a child’s immune system. But something more relevant to this article is the fact that these products can cause the bacteria in your plumbing to form a resistance against them. And when bacteria do this, they only get stronger! When you combine that with the effect they can have on someone’s immune system, you’re looking at a big potential problem in the future.
