What to Flush and What Not to Flush down Your Toilet

As a homeowner, the toilet can be used as a great waste removal tool due to its extreme convenience. Once you flush something, it is gone forever and never has to be dealt with again. While there is some truth to that, users must keep in mind that the toilet and its piping are only designed to handle human waste and toilet paper. Anything other than that can cause a clog at an undetermined distance down the drain.

Some clogs caused by alien objects can be fixed with just a plunger if you are fortunate enough, but most are going to require some kind of commercial drain cleaner. We definitely recommend keeping an auger around the house in case a situation like this comes up. Even if you don't feel like you would ever need an auger, it is a relatively cheap buy that can potentially save you loads of money if you can fix your drain clog before having to call a plumber.

One misconception about what you can flush down your toilet is that some wipes advertised as "flushable" can be sent down your toilet no problem. Flushing these wipes should generally not cause any harm under normal circumstances, but there have already been four different lawsuits filed over the issue.What's worse is that some of the allegations in this case are coming from city's who have had to pay to have repairs done on their septic systems. It is one thing for a homeowner to have to call in a plumber to fix a drain clog, but damaging the city's septic system is another level of bad.

The moral of the story is don't take the easy way out. If you find yourself having the urge to flush various things that aren't meant to be flushed, do yourself a favor and just throw it in the trash can. Even flushable sanitary wipes are better off being thrown away than being consistently flushed down your toilet. The only things that are truly designed to be flushed down the toilet are human waste and toilet paper.