Households told to pour vinegar down the drain on Monday

After a boiling hot late May heatwave, it seems like like June has been a bit of a rainy letdown thus far, with days of heavy downpours and even thunder and lightning warnings issued by the Met Office over the past week. With much of the UK seeing the rains come down in a short period at some point over the weekend, it can lead to a common problem for your house in the form of blocked up drains.

During this weather, drains on the side of your house can quickly clog up with leaves, twigs and other dirt and dust, while food waste down your kitchen drains can also clog up outdoor drains, with fat, grease and even rice and bits of food grime. That can happen when heavy rain meets blocked drains, and the drainpipes can no longer cope with the amount of rainwater pouring through them because your outside drain is blocked.

The Met Office says the rain is not over yet either, adding in its latest forecast: "Showers or longer spells of rain are likely to continue into Sunday and early next week, with brighter, drier intervals at times." That’s why households are being urged to pour vinegar down their drains to help keep them clear on Monday following the rain at the weekend.

If your outside drains are regularly blocking up, you don’t need to spend big sums of money on expensive drain cleaning solutions, which are often laden with toxic chemicals, too. Just using vinegar and baking soda or bicarbonate of soda can keep them running smoothly without having to unblock them all the time.

Plumbing website Wolseley explains in its guidance: “Outside drains do many important jobs, handling everything from domestic waste to leaves and outdoor debris. This means that they can become easily blocked but luckily drain unblocking is quite simple to do by yourself if a problem occurs.

“The best way of preventing your drains from blocking is by controlling what goes down them. If your drains connect to the inside of your home, you should make sure that no one is putting cooking grease or coffee grounds directly down the drains, as these are common causes of blockages.

“You can also add grates and filters to your outside drains to stop garden debris from blocking them. These are very effective against leaves, which can contribute significantly to blockages. You can also add small filters to your plugholes indoors to catch food waste and hair from being flushed down and contributing to blockages.

“If your drains regularly block despite precautions, you may wish to start putting baking soda, vinegar, or small amounts of a chemical drain cleaner down your drains to help keep them clear for longer.”

Website Plumbcare explains how to use vinegar and baking soda to clear a blocked drain too. It says: “Mix two parts baking soda and one part salt and pour down the drain. Warm four parts vinegar and pour down on top of the baking soda and salt. It will bubble and fizz. Let it work for 15 minutes and then flush through with hot water.”