Whether you’ve heard them from your mom, your friends, or just read them on the internet, you’ve probably come across quite a few old-wives tales. Often disguised as hacks or tips and tricks, they usually seem like a great idea in either saving you money or cleaning your kitchen. Don’t be fooled though, as some of these old-wives tales are myths that could cause serious damage to your plumbing. Wyman Plumbing & Mechanical is here to bust those myths and help you avoid any costly mistakes.

A Slow Leak is Nothing to Worry About

You head to your bathroom to wash your hands and notice your faucet is dripping a little. As it’s only a slow drip, you shrug your shoulders and decide not to stress about it.

Big mistake. The drip may look like no big deal and seem like no water is being wasted but it adds up quickly. Go ahead and put a bowl under that slow drip and watch how fast it fills up. All that water being wasted is hiking up your water bill, wasting water, and causing wear and tear on your faucet and plumbing. If you can’t fix the leak yourself, call us at Wyman Plumbing & Mechanical and one of our expert plumbers will glad to fix it for you.

Putting a Brick in the Back of Your Toilet Bowl Will Save You Money

This myth dates back to the 70s and 80s and is about time for it to be flushed away for good. Old toilets use to use more than 6 gallons when it was time to flush. For folks trying to conserve water on their own, they would place a brick inside the toilet tank. Doing this would displace the water, making each flush use less water, and would also (theoretically) save some cash!

This idea sounds harmless but contains quite a few risks. Toilets are designed to flush with a specific amount of water, and messing with that could drastically affect the way the toilet operates, even if you can’t see it.

The other concern is the brick itself. While bricks are meant to be “exposed to the elements,” being perpetually submerged in water does not fall under those terms. There’s a very good chance the brick will begin to break down after some time, and the loose clay/sand/concrete particles can cause problems in the internal components. So while you intend to save some money by doing this, it may actually cost you a lot more in the long run.

Lemon Peels Will Help Clean my Disposal

Having a lemony fresh scent coming from your disposal is nice, but the scent doesn’t exactly mean the peels cleaned your disposal. In fact, the peels could jam up and get stuck in your disposal instead.

If you want to disinfect your disposal and leave it smelling fresh, thoroughly mix a little baking soda and vinegar and then pour it down the drain. It will refresh your disposal and you won’t have to worry about any leftover lemon peels being stuck.

Hot Grease is Perfectly Fine to Pour Down the Drain

Bacon is great. Hot grease being poured down the drain is not.

Oils, lards, and other fats can do serious harm to your drain and garbage disposal. Even if the hot grease is in liquid form, don’t dump that hot mess down your drain. Once the grease cools, it solidifies into a globby mess. Since grease is non-soluble, it clings to the pipe walls and will grab onto other things you thought washed down your drain.

Here’s a two-for-one myth bust: running hot water and “grease-cutting” dish soap down the drain to clear the grease doesn’t work. Avoid a kitchen sink repair and save some cans or jars for grease disposal. After cooking, pour the grease in there. Once they’re solidified and full, they’re safe to dispose of in the trash.

Bleach-Containing Toilet Tablets Will Keep my Toilet Clean

It seems like a pretty safe idea. Toilets are dirty, and lots of cleaning supplies for toilets have bleach in them, so a bleach toilet tablet is totally safe!

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The different parts of a toilet are delicate and the heavy concentration of bleach will destroy the inner workings of your toilet. If you want to clean your toilet with bleach, then place some in the bowl and flush it within 10 minutes to prevent damage.

Wyman Plumbing & Mechanical is Here to Help

Debunking myths is easy, but fixing plumbing and mechanical issues aren’t always. That’s why Wyman Plumbing & Mechanical is here to help you out. Wyman Plumbing & Mechanical is based out of Phoenix, AZ, and our plumbing professionals proudly serve those in the North Phoenix Valley.

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