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Looking to replace your bathroom faucet? Before you go any further in the planning process, you should know some pros and cons in bathroom faucet design. There are many different kinds of bathroom faucet design, but not all of them are great for everyday purposes. The pros at POM Plumbing know a thing or two about the ins and outs of faucet design. So, we’re here to help you find the best choice for you and your home.

Knobbed Faucets

To start, let’s talk about faucets with knobs. These faucets are largely outdated, but can still be found in some places – usually older houses or public bathrooms. So, what’s the scoop on knobbed faucets?

Pros

The most prominent benefit over double-handled faucets is their ability to fit into certain interior design styles. 

However, you could also make the argument that they’re more child-proof. If you have a small child who knows how to climb and likes to turn the sink on, knobs may be a roadblock. They take more coordination to turn, making them harder on small, uncoordinated hands.

Cons

What used to be a pro may yet become a con. Because small children have difficulty with knobbed faucets, when they begin potty training and need to wash their hands, they may need help with turning the water on and off well past the point when they’ve learned to wash independently.

Knobbed faucets can also be a pain for adults to use. If you have the kind of knobs that are more round and geometric or with vertical ridges, rather than having prongs on them, turning them off with wet hands can be a menace. Plus, turning them off with a paper towel can make it hard to get a grip. In settings where hygiene is important, that’s terrible news.

When a knobbed faucet springs a leak – something that happens in the lifetime of most faucets – knobbed faucets take more steps to fix. There are two different handles and the spout. That leaves three different places that can break. 

Plus, knobs usually involve removing a cap from the top of the knob. That means, should your knob get loose from use, tightening it involves finding a small tool to pop the cap off with. Then, you have to use a screwdriver to tighten the screw holding it in place.

However, one of the most frustrating parts of knobbed faucets is how difficult they are to keep sanitary. The many edges and ridges can be hard to adequately wipe down. 

Plus, those same edges and ridges fill with water frequently. Without diligent and effortful cleaning, they will harbor bacteria and, often, grow mold, which is then nearly impossible to remove entirely and is constantly fed by more water.

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Want to know about handled faucets? We’ve got some great information on those too! Check out double-handled faucets and single-handled faucets in our next guide to bathroom faucet design. If you have any questions, feel free to call and ask person to person. We love to hear from our readers!

In Part 1, we covered many of the things people flush by mistake. Take a look to make sure you’re not making the same common bathroom mistakes yourself. But, there’s a lot more to avoid than just putting the wrong things down your toilet drain. Next up, we have some things people do that can damage their pipes.

Using Chemical Drain Cleaners

Chemical drain cleaners are unfortunately common as a quick fix against slow drains. The problem is, they’re shown to have long-term affects on your drain pipes. The chemicals are strong enough that they eat away at the insides of the pipes.

Fixing a slow drain is as simple as removing whatever is blocking it. While that might be hard for a layman to do, it’s something plumbing professionals, like us at POM Plumbing, can do very easily. If it’s not an easy fix, it’s certainly not something that Drano can solve for you.

By using a snake, a drum auger (which is like an industrial snake), and possibly the help of a camera, we can pull out whatever is blocking your drain without damaging your pipes. This is not only better for your plumbing, but a more effective long-term solution as well. 

Plunging Drains

Plungers are great for toilets. Toilets sometimes need a little help when we flush too much toilet paper or waste and it can’t get to the larger part of the pipes with water alone. In this case, using a plunger is helpful and harmless. It simply pushes the clog to the part of the pipes that can handle it and then breaks apart into the smaller parts it’s made of, which is usually all stuff that degrades quickly.

However, using plungers for a sink or tub drain can spell trouble. Why? Well, drains are usually only made to handle water. The pipes are typically a consistently small diameter until they reach a larger part of the sewage system, which is either in your basement or out under the street.

When these drains are clogged, it’s typically because of a buildup. This buildup can either be in one spot or, more commonly, lines the interior of the pipe until it became so narrow that it couldn’t keep up with the flow of water.

In the first case, using a plunger may be able to push the clog further down, but it is not likely to get it all the way out to the larger sewer system – especially if it’s got any gaps for pressure release. Therefore, you’re likely wasting your time and potentially doing harm to pipes from repeatedly pressurizing them.

In the second case, a plunger will do nothing to solve your problem. It will simply pressurize the small amount of space down the middle of the pipe. Repeatedly raising the pressure inside your pipes can lead to cracks or bursts, which can turn into flooding, water damage, and more.

Ignoring Problems

Past creating problems, the worst of common bathroom mistakes that someone can make is actually ignoring the problems. The longer you allow a problem to persist, the worse it will get and the more money, time, and energy you are likely to waste. Instead, call POM Plumbing and let our professionals come help you out. The faster we can come and take care of the problem, the faster you can get back to a higher quality of life.

If you want to keep your bathroom fully functional and at peak performance, you’ll want to know these common bathroom mistakes to avoid. We at POM Group have been in the plumbing business for many years. That’s given us a lot of time to see people making the same mistakes over and over again. We want to help our clients avoid those mistakes in their own homes so that they can keep things running smoothly. Here’s what we’ve learned.

Causing Problems

The first thing we should talk about is how people tend to cause problems in their bathrooms. It’s easy to make a mistake that causes lasting issues. We’re going to cover the really common ones. 

Flushing the Wrong Things

In this article, we’ll take a look at all of the things people flush that should actually be put into the trash. More than anything else, one of the leading causes of bathroom mayhem is people’s tendency to flush the wrong things. This happens a lot because of public misinformation or passing along habits from parent to child without realizing they’re problems.

Here are some things you should never flush:

Paper products that aren’t toilet paper

Paper towels, tissues, regular paper, and any other paper product that isn’t toilet paper is not created to degrade the same way as toilet paper. The way these products break down is not sufficient enough to keep them from wreaking havoc on your plumbing system. These products can cause drain clogs, backups, and damage to the larger sewage system – yes, even if you don’t have a septic tank.

Hygiene products

Tampons, pads, liners, makeup wipes, diapers, and baby wipes should never be flushed. Like the paper products mentioned above, they are not meant to degrade fast enough to avoid causing plumbing issues. Plus, someone at a sewage plant has to remove all of that from the sewage.

The two most common of these that get flushed are tampons and baby wipes (or other wet wipes). Tampons are commonly considered flushable by the public, but this misinformation only began because of their size and seeming ability to flush without problem. However, they can cause clogs and they do build up in the sewage system. If the local sewage system has to deal with tens of these a day from all of the locals, they can easily band together to create disaster.

Supposedly “flushable” wipes are not actually flushable. Like tampons, these are only called flushable because they aren’t likely to cause immediate problems upon flushing. That does not mean they aren’t causing issues further down the line. Throw these wipes into a trashcan instead. To avoid putting noticeable amounts of waste into your bathroom trashcan, wipe with toilet paper first and then use wet wipes for further cleanup.

Contaminants

While these items won’t necessarily cause your individual bathroom any problems, they will cause problems in the local water supply. Avoid flushing paint, lubricating oil, and medication. All three of these have to be disposed of in unique ways, none of which involve a toilet. Because these things are made with ingredients that are dangerous to humans, their ability to get into the water supply is also dangerous. Do you really want the local water to absorb prescription drugs? Neither do we.

Absorbent & Expanding

If you want to spell some serious trouble for your own bathroom, rather than the sewage system, just try flushing kitty litter, rice, or other absorbent solids. Kitty litter, rice, and many other things are made to expand when in contact with water. That means, as soon as it goes down your toilet drain, it begins absorbing water. That’s a great way to get one nasty blockage.

More Common Bathroom Mistakes

Ready for the other mistakes you should avoid? Check out Part 2 for more than just flushing the wrong things. If you’ve found your problem, call us and let us know you need some assistance.

Cleaning a bathroom comes with many facets. This is a place that involves both waste disposal as well as hygiene. There’s a delicate balance in keeping the facilities for those things well-cleaned. One of the areas of the bathroom that gets regularly neglected is the floor. The fact is, the floor of the bathroom is one of the most important parts to clean adequately. Here are some bathroom cleaning solutions on how to care for it. And, remember, one of the most important times to clean the bathroom floor is after you’ve had plumbing work done.

Why the Floor Matters

You might be wondering why the bathroom floor is one of the most important elements to clean. The reason is, every time you enter the bathroom, any bacteria on the floor gets on your feet. It’s then tracked into the rest of the house when you leave. Your feet don’t just go on the floor either. If you lie down in bed or curl up on the couch, it will be spread to those places too. Plus, the bathroom floor doesn’t just harbor plain bacteria – it usually has fecal particles on it. So, if you don’t want what’s on your bathroom floor to be spread to the rest of the house, you have to clean the bathroom floor adequately.

Your bathroom floor is liable to get bacteria-filled water on it during cleaning. Because of that, it’s best practice to save the floor for last, when using these bathroom cleaning solutions.

Sweeping

Because of the aforementioned spread of bacteria when things contact your bathroom floor, it’s recommended to keep a separate broom for the bathroom floor. Cheap brooms can be bought for only a few dollars. This broom is best stored in a laundry room or other place away from the kitchen, that has hard flooring.

Disinfecting

There are multiple bathroom cleaning solutions you can use when disinfecting your bathroom floors.

Mops

Mops are a classic choice for floor cleaning. If you’re going to use a mop, you’ll want a cleaning solution with antibacterial cleaner in it. The standard way to create this is with a cleaning concentrate, such as what’s offered by Lysol. Simply fill a bucket with a couple gallons of hot water and mix in the necessary amount of cleaning solution. Check individual cleaner labels for the correct amount.

Wet your mop, after sweeping, and mop every part of the floor. Every time you rinse the mop in the bucket, wring it out with your hands or any built on wringer.Ensure, when mopping, that you don’t oversaturate the floor.  Getting the floor very wet will make it take longer to dry and can damage certain types of flooring, such as vinyl tiles, which can lose their adhesion. Then, leave your floor to dry. Once the floor has dried, it is best practice to go over it once more. This will ensure no part of the floor is accidentally neglected.

Because mops aren’t washable in the same way other solutions are, you’ll want to let your mop dry thoroughly and then keep it somewhere with hard floor, like the laundry room. It is also recommended, like the broom, not to use the bathroom mop in the kitchen, unless you want to spread fecal particles on the kitchen floor.

Swiffer Mops

If you prefer to use a Swiffer, or an off-brand version of a Swiffer mop, ensure you use some kind of cleaning solution. A dry Swiffer will not sanitize your floors. Swiffer Wet Jets include a cleaning fluid, and some Swiffer Mops come with wet wipe attachments. The most important part of using a Swiffer for your bathroom is throwing away the wipe attachment when you’re done. Do not use the same wipe in other rooms after using it in the bathroom.

Manual Washing

Alternatively, if you plan to change your clothes and shower after cleaning the bathroom, you can scrub the floor manually. You can use the same kind of solution you would for a mop. When scrubbing the floors manually, it is always recommended to use a cloth or towel rather than a sponge or brush. A cloth or towel is more effective and can be washed in a washing machine to purge it of bacteria and fecal particulates.

If you’re tired of struggling to clean a dirty toilet, and just find it plain unpleasant, this is for you. Part of being plumbers is knowing the ins and outs of bathroom fixtures, including cleaning them. So, if you’re in need of some bathroom cleaning solutions, you’ve come to the right place.

Rubber Gloves

The first thing we want to stress to our readers is the value of using disposable gloves. For many, a large part of what makes toilet cleaning unpleasant is the tightrope of wiping down in corners without getting something gross on your hands. If you’re squeamish about waste, get a box of disposable gloves. They’re easy to store under the sink and you can throw them away when you’re done using them.

Eco Friendly Bathroom Cleaning Solutions

Even better is getting rubber gloves you can reuse. Thicker, more durable rubber gloves can be bought in most stores with cleaning supplies. When you’re done with them, simply wash your hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap while still wearing them. Then, when you take them off, ensure they’re right side out and let them dry by the sink before storing them for the next cleaning session.

Soaking Cleaner

For the toilet bowl, instead of scrubbing until your arm is aching, get yourself a soaking toilet bowl cleaner. These usually come in a blue color, in bottles shaped to reach under the toilet rim. You simply untwist the top, flip it upside down, and squeeze lightly while rotating it under the edge of the toilet. The cleaner then runs from just under the rim, all the way down each side of the toilet bowl.

If you make this one of your first steps in the bathroom cleaning process, perhaps right after turning the water on to soak the bathtub, the grime in the toilet will be much more willing to come off by the time you begin scrubbing it. Plus, these cleaners don’t just make grime easier to remove, they sanitize the bowl.

Ditch the Wet Wipes

For the exterior of the toilet, many people use antibacterial wet wipes, such as those from Lysol. While these aren’t inherently bad for cleaning, they are not the easiest method. Here’s why:

1. With no time to soak in anything, anything dried onto the outside of your toilet will require scrubbing. Wet wipes are not very thick or chemically powerful, which makes them mediocre, at best, when it comes to scrubbing.
2. Because wet wipes are so damp, they’re hard to pick things up with. If you tend to get hair collecting on your toilet and you use wet wipes, you know what I mean. Trying to wipe up hairs ends up just moving them around. They don’t really like to stick to the wipes.
3. Wet wipes are not biodegradable, which means more waste.

Foaming Spray

In terms of better bathroom cleaning solutions for the exterior of the toilet, using a foaming spray with paper towels is peak among them. Foaming sprays can be sprayed on at the start of your cleaning session and left to sit. They will loosen grime and sanitize the surface of the toilet. 

Once your foaming spray has had time to sit, use paper towels to wipe the toilet clean. Paper towels, because they’re dry and have a different texture than wipes, are better at picking up particulates. Things like hairs stick to paper towels better. Plus, they’re biodegradable, so throwing them out is guilt free.