Although we often think that there is no wrong or right way to shower, there are a few dos and don’ts we must follow in terms of hygiene and in terms of keeping our plumbing system healthy. But with the latter, it’s rather hard to know what bad shower habits could ruin our pipelines, so here are some of the worst practices you can do in the shower.
Using bath bombs and oily products
Sure, bath bombs make bathing time much more fun as you see these palm-sized balls explode into different colours on your tub. It also often comes with different scents and even moisturizing ingredients like shea or cocoa butter, essential oils, and even bits of flowers like roses.
Unfortunately, while baking soda and Epsom salt, which are common ingredients of bath bombs, do dissolve in water, many of the other ingredients mentioned above do not. Instead, when you flush your tub, the additives would leave behind some residue that could stick onto your drain pipe.
Oily ingredients such as butter and essential oils are the hardest to remove and often the most common suspect of failed drainage systems. They would harden over time and continue accumulating in the drain, along with any other foreign objects that go down the pipe.
Eventually, you’ll end up with a clogged bathroom drain and will ultimately need the help of a plumbing Sydney professional. But if you stop using bath bombs and other oily products, then you could prolong the life of your bathroom drainage system and avoid hiring professionals.
Pushing fallen hair down the drain
Most of us would have around 25,000 hairs on our head at any given time. However, some do fall out, especially in the shower. On average, a person would normally lose between 50 and 100 hair strands a day, mostly when we’re bathing.
That said, every home should have a drain strainer that catches all these strands. But although many houses do, there are people whose worst showering habits are pushing all these fallen hair down the drain.
Many might think this is fine and that the water would push the strands safely out of our drainage system. But oftentimes, that is not the case. Instead, they get trapped with residues on your pipe, especially if you tend to use oily products like above. Or maybe soap residues that could accumulate within your pipelines.
Instead of getting flushed, the hair strands would block the pipeline and you’d end up with a clogged drain yet again.
Pushing small objects and waste down the drain or the toilet
Besides hair strands, some people tend to throw small objects down the drain. For example, the plastic pieces that secure new shampoo or body gels, or maybe pieces of your soap containers. If they don’t fit in the drain, some would flush them down the toilet.
Again, this practice is just a clogged drain waiting to happen. Make it a habit to open bathroom products before showering so you can properly dispose of the waste in the trash bin. Or have a designated bin for your bathroom or shower.
Leaving wet loofah in your bathroom
This is a common practice that many of us do, and not even know that it’s actually a bad practice.
Leaving wet loofah inside our shower rooms is common, but this could be unhealthy for us as moist products become a breeding ground for bacteria, which could then infiltrate your plumbing system. While you may not need a professional plumber to fix any telltale signs of damages, you might need a doctor to check any symptoms of bacterial infection and health problems caused by these nasty microorganisms.
