The usual suspects
- Wet wipes, including those sold as flushable
- Kitchen roll and tissues, engineered to stay strong when damp
- Dental floss, which tangles into nets that catch everything else
- Cotton swabs and cotton pads
- Menstrual products and their wrappers
- Medication, which should go back to a pharmacy
- Cooking fat and oil
- Cat litter, even types marketed as flushable
Why it matters in older homes
Many Scarborough houses have clay or cast iron laterals with rough joints and small offsets. A wipe that might slip through smooth new pipe snags on a root or a lip, then collects paper until the line closes. In houses with basement suites, twice the waste rides through the same pipe.
Bin by the toilet: A small lidded bin in each bathroom is the simplest prevention there is.
Better places for these items
- Wipes, floss, swabs and hygiene products go in the garbage.
- Unused medicine goes back to a pharmacy for safe disposal.
- Cooled fat goes in a sealed container in the garbage or, for small amounts soaked into paper towel, the green bin. Check current City sorting rules.
Signs something has been flushed that should not have been
- A toilet that clogs repeatedly with normal use
- Gurgling in a nearby tub or sink when flushing
- Water rising in a floor drain
When to call
If plunging does not fix it, or if more than one fixture is affected, call for main line clearing.