Quick answer: The mistakes that cause us the most work: reaching straight for the caustic cleaner, pouring fat down the sink, flushing wipes, ignoring a slow drain until it's an emergency, forcing rods until a section unscrews and vanishes, and paying to clear a drain that was Southern Water's responsibility all along. Most of them make things worse rather than better. If a plunger and a kettle of hot water haven't shifted it, that's your cue to stop before you cause damage. Call 07404 434534.
The most common blocked-drain mistakes
A fair share of the drains we clear around Brighton and Sussex weren't really caused by the blockage. They were caused by what happened after it. The recurring ones:
- Over-relying on chemical drain cleaners that promise everything and rarely reach the actual blockage.
- Pouring fat, grease and cooking oil down the sink, where it sets solid further along.
- Flushing "flushable" wipes, sanitary items and kitchen roll, none of which break down like toilet paper.
- Ignoring the early signs until a slow drain becomes an overflow.
- Using too much force with drain rods, which dislodges joints or leaves a rod stuck down the pipe.
- Not knowing whose drain it is, and paying to clear a shared or public one.
None of these are stupid. They're the obvious first thing anybody would try. They just have a habit of turning a five-minute job into an expensive one.
Are chemical drain cleaners bad?
Caustic drain cleaner is the one thing I'd steer you away from more than anything else.
It can damage your pipes. Strong caustic and acidic cleaners generate heat as they react, and on older pipework, particularly plastic waste pipes and the seals under a sink, repeated use weakens the joints.
It often doesn't reach the blockage either. These products work on light build-up near the surface. If what's blocking you is a solid mass of fat and wipes further down the run, the chemical just pools on top of it and sits there. Now you've got a blocked drain full of caustic liquid, which is a genuine problem for whoever opens it next. Usually me.
Then there's the environment. Everything you pour down ends up in the wastewater system eventually, and if it splashes back on the way, caustic cleaner burns skin and eyes.
A plunger, a drain snake, or near-boiling (not fully boiling) water with a squirt of washing-up liquid will clear far more everyday blockages than any of it, and none of them damage anything.
Why is pouring fat and grease down the sink a problem?
Because it doesn't stay liquid. It goes down warm and runny, then cools and sets hard against the inside of the pipe. Do it again and the layer thickens, catches more debris, and the pipe narrows until it stops. Fatbergs in the sewers are the same process at a larger scale, and the version under your kitchen sink works exactly the same way.
Let it cool in the pan, scrape it into the bin, wipe greasy pans with kitchen roll before washing up. Easiest kitchen blockage you'll ever prevent.
Are "flushable" wipes actually flushable?
No. "Flushable" means the wipe will clear the toilet bowl. It says nothing about what happens in the pipe afterwards, which is where you and I both live.
Wet wipes, baby wipes, cleaning wipes, cotton pads, sanitary items and kitchen roll all hold together and snag on any small imperfection in the pipe. Once one catches, everything behind it builds up on top.
The rule's simple: pee, poo and paper. Everything else goes in the bin.
Should I ignore a slow-draining sink?
No, and this is the one that costs people real money. A slow sink, a gurgling plughole, a bad smell, a toilet that's sluggish to clear: these are the blockage introducing itself. At that stage it's usually small and easy.
Left alone, a partial blockage becomes a complete one, and a complete one backs up into the house. What would have been a quick clearance becomes an emergency, and it always seems to happen at the worst possible hour. Deal with the early signs early. That's when it's cheapest and least disruptive.
Can you cause damage with drain rods?
Yes. Rods are a genuinely useful tool, but two things go wrong constantly:
- Turning them the wrong way. Always turn drain rods clockwise as you push. Turn anticlockwise and the sections unscrew underground, and now you have a loose rod in your drain sitting on top of the original blockage.
- Using too much force. Ramming rods into a solid blockage dislodges pipe joints or wedges the blockage somewhere tighter. Firm and steady clears more than hard and fast.
If two careful attempts haven't worked, stop there. Jetting, done properly, reaches blockages rods can't get near and doesn't put your pipework at risk.
Whose drain is it, anyway?
This one catches people out financially. Not every drain on or near your property is yours to pay for.
Pipes inside your property boundary serving only your home are your responsibility. Shared drains and the public sewer, including most lateral drains beyond your boundary, are usually the water company's responsibility. Across most of Sussex that's Southern Water.
Before you pay anybody to clear a blockage, check whose it is. We go through it properly in Who is responsible for a blocked drain? so you don't end up buying something the water company would have done for nothing.
What should I do instead?
The low-risk stuff that genuinely works:
- Try a plunger first, on sinks and toilets alike. Still the best tool in most houses.
- Hot (not boiling) water and washing-up liquid for greasy kitchen blockages.
- Fit drain and plughole guards to catch hair and food before it gets in.
- Bin fat, wipes and sanitary items instead of flushing them.
- Act on the early signs.
- If you're unsure, stop before you make it worse and call somebody who does this daily.
When it genuinely won't budge, professional blocked drain clearance with rods, plunging and jetting will shift it without the chemical guesswork or the risk to your pipes.
Get it cleared properly
I'm Danny Ozoum, owner and engineer at Drains 4 Brighton. We do 24/7 blocked-drain clearance across Brighton and the wider Sussex area. If you've hit something you can't shift, or you'd rather not gamble with it, ring before it becomes an emergency.
Call 07404 434534 any time, day or night.