How to Prevent Blocked Drains
Most blockages can be stopped with simple daily habits—keeping grease, hair, and non-flushable items out of your drains—plus the occasional check on older pipes.
Look, nobody wants to deal with a blocked drain. You get the smell, the mess, the whole palaver of waiting for a plumber to turn up—it's a proper hassle. Thing is though, most of these blockages come from pretty ordinary stuff we all do without a second thought. Just tweaking those habits usually means your drains keep doing what they should. That's the long and short of it really.
What we're going to do here is walk through it room by room, so you can see what causes the problems and how to stop them early. We'll get into the tree root situation too, which is a whole other kettle of fish for older Perth properties.
The kitchen: fats, oils and food scraps
Grease is probably the single biggest culprit in kitchen drains. It looks harmless going down as a liquid, but once it cools it just clings to the pipe walls. After a few weeks of that you've got this thick crust building up, and it starts grabbing every bit of food that goes past until nothing gets through. We see this one constantly.
- Never pour fats, oils or grease down the sink. Let them cool in the pan first, then scrape the lot straight into the bin. A quick wipe with paper towel before washing up makes a real difference too.
- Scrape plates into the bin first before you rinse anything, otherwise actual food scraps end up heading down the drain when they shouldn't.
- Use a sink strainer to catch things like coffee grounds and smaller debris.
- Be careful with the garbage disposal if you've got one. Fibrous foods, coffee grounds, starchy stuff like rice or pasta—they all swell up in there and cause no end of trouble.
- Flush with hot water once you're done washing up. It moves any leftover grease along before it has a chance to settle and harden.
The bathroom: hair and soap
Hair and soap scum are the bathroom's main problems. Hair sheds in the shower, gets tangled up, mixes with soap and shampoo residue, and basically forms this dense mat that sits in the drain doing absolutely nothing helpful.
- Fit a drain guard or hair catcher over your shower and basin plugholes. Cheap little item, stops a massive amount of bathroom blockages from ever starting.
- Clean the guard regularly and put the hair in the bin—not down the drain where it'll just cause grief later.
- Brush your hair before showering so you're not shedding as much down the drain to begin with.
- Flush drains with hot water now and then to stop soap build-up from setting hard.
The toilet: only the three Ps
Toilets block when people treat them like a bin. The rule's pretty straightforward: only flush pee, poo and toilet paper. Everything else goes in the bin. That's it really.
- Never flush wet wipes, even the ones claiming to be "flushable" on the packet. They don't break down properly and they're honestly one of the biggest causes of blockages we deal with.
- Keep sanitary products, nappies, cotton buds and dental floss out of the toilet entirely.
- Don't flush paper towel or tissues, because they're much stronger than toilet paper and they don't dissolve the same way.
Outdoor drains, gutters and stormwater
Your outdoor drainage matters just as much, especially with the kind of seasonal downpours Perth gets. Leaves, dirt and debris clog up stormwater drains and gutters, and suddenly you've got water pooling in places it really shouldn't be.
- Clear leaves and debris from outdoor drains and grates on a regular basis.
- Keep gutters clean so stormwater actually flows away like it's supposed to. If gutters keep giving you grief, our roof plumbing and gutters service can sort that out for you.
- Fit leaf guards over outdoor grates where debris tends to be an ongoing issue.
Managing tree roots in older pipes
Good habits handle most blockages, but in established Perth suburbs there's a bigger structural thing going on—tree roots getting into older clay or earthenware sewer pipes. Roots are drawn to the moisture inside pipes, and they grow in through cracks and joints, forming these dense masses that catch everything flowing past.
You can't really stop this with habits alone. But you can manage it:
| Strategy | How it helps |
|---|---|
| Be mindful of what you plant | Avoid fast-growing, water-hungry trees near the sewer line |
| Periodic CCTV inspections | Catch root intrusion early on older pipes before it becomes a full blockage |
| Repair or reline cracked pipes | Removes the entry point roots exploit |
| Maintenance jetting | Keeps known problem lines clear before roots re-establish |
If you're living in an older home and your drains keep blocking, roots are a pretty likely cause worth looking into. Our guide on the signs of a blocked drain goes through the warning signs you should be watching for.
A simple maintenance routine
A few minutes of upkeep here and there keeps your drains healthy without needing any fancy products:
- Weekly: empty and clean sink strainers and shower hair catchers, and bin what you find in there.
- Monthly: pour a kettle or two of hot water down each drain. Helps shift soap and grease residue before it sets into something worse.
- Seasonally: clear leaves from outdoor grates and gutters. Do it especially before Perth's wetter months hit, so stormwater flows away properly.
- Every year or two: if you've got an older home with clay pipes, it's worth getting a camera check on the main sewer line. Catches early root intrusion before it turns into a real headache.
None of this takes long at all, and it saves you from the much bigger job of clearing a fully blocked drain or dealing with an overflow situation.
A word on chemical drain cleaners
It's pretty tempting to grab a bottle of chemical drain cleaner when you notice a slow drain, but honestly go easy with that stuff. Harsh chemicals can damage older pipes and seals—they don't actually clear the underlying build-up properly, and they make it dangerous for a plumber to work on the drain afterwards. Hot water is a safer bet for routine maintenance, and if a slow drain keeps coming back you're better off getting it properly diagnosed than just pouring chemicals down there over and over.
When prevention isn't enough
Even with the best habits, drains sometimes block anyway—older sewer lines with structural issues are particularly prone to it. If you've got a blockage that keeps coming back, multiple slow drains, gurgling noises, or bad smells, it's time to get the drain properly inspected. A camera inspection finds exactly what's going on, and professional clearing sorts it out properly instead of just temporarily. Our blocked drains service handles everything from a one-off clear to working out what's causing a persistent problem.
Drains slowing down despite your best efforts? Call our licensed Canning Vale plumbers to inspect, clear and keep your drains flowing freely.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best way to prevent kitchen drain blockages?
Don't pour fats, oils or grease down the sink—they congeal and choke the pipe over time. Scrape your plates into the bin before rinsing, use a sink strainer to catch scraps, and run hot water down after washing up. That covers most of it.
Do drain guards really work?
They do, yeah. A simple hair catcher over shower and basin plugholes stops a large share of bathroom blockages by keeping hair from tangling in the drain. You just need to clean the guard regularly and bin the hair rather than pushing it further down.
Should I use chemical drain cleaner to keep drains clear?
Best to use it sparingly if at all. Harsh chemicals can damage older pipes and seals, and they don't actually clear the underlying build-up. Plus it makes things hazardous for a plumber to work on later. Hot water is a safer option for routine maintenance.
How do I prevent tree roots blocking my drains?
You can't fully prevent it through habits alone, but you can manage the situation. Avoid planting water-hungry trees near the sewer line, repair or reline any cracked pipes, and schedule periodic CCTV checks and maintenance jetting on older lines to keep them clear.