Plumbing Issues

So I spent most of Friday afternoon with our friendly, local plumber. The boys bathroom has been having issues for the past few days with flushing. We finally called someone to take a look at it. Yes, something is definitely stuck down there. After much searching and still no results, the toilet was taken out into our driveway for further research. After many honks and weird looks from my neighbors, a hose, some metal thing-mijigger, and a determined plumber, we found the culprit...drum roll please... a bar of soap! Yes my friends, 200 dollars literally down the drain thanks to a bar of soap. I don't even buy bars of soap, I buy body wash because bars are so messy! However it got into our house, I only have two choices as to who flushed it down our toilet...hmmm Ethan or Garrett? Anyway, I did have a nice little chat with the plumber since he was here for so long and I learned a few things I promised him I would share with all my female/mom friends. Trust me, this could save you money so read on.

Never...

1. Use flushable wipes. Even though they say "flushable" they apparently are not good for toilets. Sad but true. Those were so handy when helping potty trained kids-this will be the hardest one for me.

2. Flush anything but toilet paper-we females hear this a lot but he even said hair and floss are just as bad. Who knew?

3. Clean paint brushes without lots of HOT water. If it doesn't dissolve, it turns hard and you know the rest. No more letting the kids rinse them by themselves I guess.

4, Use Draino. He said if not done carefully it can literally eat through your pipes-best left to a professional. However, long hair is a problem so use your Wet Vac to suck the drain every once in a while. I've never heard of that one but he said I should definitely try it.

5. Use auto cleaners. They can also eat away the rubber gascets (or whatever they are) and cause leaks.

6. Go without a water softener. These are not just a luxury anymore. Hard water makes that gross ring in your toilet and can ruin granite, tile, and faucets. I can already tell it has tarnished mine and we haven't even lived in our house a year!

Well, I have done my good in the world today by passing along this knowledge. Take it for whatever it's worth -which could be a couple hundred bucks!