Why does my drain smell bad?

A pongy drain is not a pleasant experience and often difficult to eradicate. Homeowners get fed up with the lingering smell coming from the drains, and they have done everything they can think of to get rid of it. Often the smell from the drain engulfs the entire house and become a real nuisance.

What causes the smell of drains?

While your drain may look clean, and the water seems to run freely through it, it is difficult to see what is really going on in such a long, often complex set of pipes. Most often the culprit of the bad odour is a mini blockage.

image credit

If you see water flowing out of the sink and shower, it could be assumed that there is no blockage – but there can often be a partial blockage, even if water is draining adequately, that still causes problems. Partial blockages can be caused by many things – and very common in homes with small children, who seem to enjoy seeing what they can get into the shower plug hole! Anything stuck on your channel can trap other things around it such as hair and bits of food. Over time this will ultimately create a blockage bad enough to cause problems – but the first signs are often a rotting smell from the items on your channel.

How to prevent smelly drains

As with many things in life, prevention is better than cure, when it comes to plumbing.

Top tip is to ensure that nothing except water is allowed to be flushed down your drains. This include fats and oils, food and hair. The best way to do this is to invest in some inexpensive mesh covers for the plug hole and use them all the time. Use an old tin can or other items for collecting grease and oil from food leftovers and put it in the bin. For helped with Blocked Drains Kent, visit a site like Medway Drain Services, an expert in Blocked Drains Kent.

Oils and fats are in liquid form when we discard them but will soon solidify and cause major blockages and nasty smells. They are still in the pipeline and become bigger and bigger as other things going down the drain stick to them. This blockage can be really difficult to clean.

Another tip to prevent the smell of drains is maintaining their cleanliness. Clearly, you cannot physically clean the inside of your water channel – but you can pour a kettle of boiling water down your kitchen sink every day. It helps to make sure anything lurking can be moved along and it can help to expel all the small lumps of fat that may be stuck to the pipe.

Image credit

In the bathroom, hair is usually the main cause when it comes to odour and partial blockage. Surely hair wouldn’t smell? However, as it builds up inside the plug hole, it attracts other things being washed away and may quickly raise a stink! Should your plug be clogged with hair and it cannot easily be removed by hand, you can try using cosmetic hair removal cream on it. Follow the instructions on the packaging and make sure you run the tap for a long time after that to make sure the hair is washed away thoroughly.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *