How do you pack for your trip? IF IT WORKS, DON’T MESS WITH IT!

I was planning my up coming trip to Boston and was very excited to be attending a Trade Mission to introduce the WaterDrills® Drain Opener into the United States market, with my business partner, Jim. Even though our schedule would be very tight, I still wanted to see the Nova Scotia Christmas Tree that we deliver every year because of their help in the Halifax Explosion.

How many of us go on a trip and pack our entire wardrobe? That’s me! I always end up with an extra bag to check and normally my carry on is filled with every pair of shoes I own. I love to be prepared, and besides, who knows when your lucky shoes might just be the thing that lands you the big deal!

I have received a lot of criticism from both family and friends over the years about my excessive packing ritual. But not this time! I decided I was going to pack smart. I even planned a week ahead where normally I’m packing the day I’m leaving.

So here was my brilliant plan:

1. I would only take a carry on, my laptop and purse. (no waiting for baggage)
2. I would plan my outfits around one pair of high heel dress boots. (just in case it snowed)
3. I would pack four business outfits for my three day stay. (One spare in case of an emergency)
4. I would leave the extra shoes home. (little to no walking required)

Isn’t it funny how the most dumb things we do in life have all started out as such great plans!

My journey began when my original Air Canada direct flight got cancelled and they now had me flying into Montreal and then on to Boston. On arrival in Montreal, I had a few words with the pilot and when I told him I needed to catch my connection to Boston, he just smiled and said I better start walking. Oh no, this didn’t sound good. So I After strapping my laptop bag to my over stuffed carry on, I grabbed my purse and began my 20 minute hike through the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

You know when you love a pair of boots and they don’t have your exact size, you think, no problem, I’ll just have to wear an extra pair of socks. Just a tip, make sure you bring the socks! By the time I cleared customs, my feet were killing me and I started to question just how brilliant my plan really was.

On arrival in Boston, I breezed through the airport into my waiting car.  It was great because I didn’t have to wait for baggage. Jim and I attended our meetings and finished up for the day around 6, leaving us enough time to head out in search of the Christmas Tree, which Jim said was near by.  We planned on seeing the tree and then dinner at Cheers. I thought, “another well thought out plan!” Only if I thought to bring walking shoes! But by all accounts, this wouldn’t be a problem because we didn’t have far to walk. Jim and I hit the streets of downtown Boston.

Thank you to the fabulous folks of Boston. Everyone we asked, stopped and took the time to give us directions, some sending us off exploring other parts of the city. One couple even had us follow them, right to the wrong tree. But we thanked them anyways. So after walking over 2 hours, normally a 10-15 min. walk, we found the Nova Scotia Christmas Tree. In hindsight, a map might have been a good idea or fully charged iphone because after all that, we still had to find Cheers and our way back to the hotel!

I am very happy to say that my feet survived this expedition and as a treat for my hardship, I bought new boots before returning home. Not only did we have a very successful Trade Mission, we were very fortunate to see most of downtown Boston and I also learned a very valuable lesson….If it works, don’t mess with it! So to all the travellers out there that get heckled for over packing, I say….always be prepared!  Travel Tips may have helped me!

TIRED OF SLOW FLOWING DRAINS? Throw away that coat hanger!

Are you ready for the Christmas Holidays? Not only is this one of the busiest times of the year, but this is when most family and friends come together and play catch up.  So if you are expecting a full house, the last thing you need is a slow flowing toilet.  With just a few minutes of your time, you can ensure that when you need to count on your toilet the most, it stands up to the challenge.  Lets not just stock the bathroom for guests, a little maintenance goes a long way!

I’m sure we have all experienced a drain clog or two over the years, and are aware of the importance of maintaining our drains, but do we know how to maintain our toilet? Do we really know what causes a slow flowing toilet? If you have ruled out a clog in your toilet and it is still not flowing properly, most likely your problem is bacterial and mineral deposits. Especially, if you live in an area with hard water.

So if not a toilet clog, then where do the minerals and bacteria accumulate?

Easily remove bacterial and mineral deposits using your WaterDrills® Drain Opener.

There are two ways in which water flows into your toilet bowl, either by the flush holes located up inside the rim of your toilet or a hole located in the bottom of your toilet that also allows the water from your tank to flow in. This hole actually provides most of the flushing power and usually builds-up minerals easily.

In order to make sure solids properly get flushed down the toilet, there has to be sufficient water present in the bowl.  When these holes become clogged or partially clogged due to mineral build-up, it takes more time for the bowl to fill up with water.  If you’re like me, when my business is done, I’m done! I don’t have time to stand around waiting for my toilet to fill up before flushing!

So if you find yourself having more toilet clogs than usual, the first thing I’d do is check your flush holes.  You can do this by flushing your toilet and watching carefully to the stream of water flowing from these holes.  If the water is running straight down instead of shooting out diagonally around the bowl, your flush holes may be partially clogged.

Up until recently, methods for trying to clean these holes would include, using such items as coat hangers, awls, paper clips, screw drivers, etc. to try and scratch the minerals off.  I discovered a very informative step to step guide on using a coat hanger here.

The most scariest recommendation I found was to use Muriatic acid with this warning following:  MA is not to be taken lightly even though you can buy it down at the hardware store or big-box. You do not want to breathe the vapors as they will burn the lungs. Open a window in the room, use a fan and hold your breath for good measure. Goggles are best and if you get any on your skin or clothes….get it flushed off with water ASAP. Mind the drippings from your funnel when you remove it as MA can/will eat into many different materials. Ummm just saying, this is definitely not a choice in my household!  But if you choose this method, please hire a professional.

The WaterDrills® Drain Opener is an environmentally friendly, safe solution for clogged drains. It uses only water right from your faucet at normal household water pressure. You now have a choice to easily clean and maintain your flush holes without damaging your plumbing fixtures or worrying about the risks involved with using caustic chemicals.  The WaterDrills® Drain Opener in not just for clogged drains!  Used as a maintenance tool, you can easily rid all your fixture drains from bacterial and mineral deposits. For more information and to read customer testimonials on this product, visit the WaterDrills.ca.

If you would like to see videos of the WaterDrills Drain Opener in use, check out WaterDrills YouTube Channel.

So think WaterDrills, Let the Water Flow!

SINK OVERFLOWS – the most unsanitary place in your bathroom!

So you have an odour in your bathroom sink? Well you are not alone! Most often it’s coming from your sink overflow cavity.

In the early development of the WATERDRILLS® DRAIN OPENER, I went door to door on a marketing campaign.  I bet I knocked on over 800 doors! I would ask to demonstrate the product and since most homes had no clog at that particular moment, I would do a demonstration in their bathroom sink overflow cavity.

I was surprised by the same question that kept popping up.  “How did all that black sludge get in there when my sink has never overflowed?” Think about it this way… every time you put the plug in your sink, whether to wash your face, shave, etc., then remove the plug, all that dirty water has to go somewhere.  The force of the water wanting to flow down the drain, pushes some of that filthy water back up into the overflow through the little holes located in your drain opening.

This makes the sink overflow cavity one of the most unsanitary places in your bathroom.  It not only breeds germs and bacteria, but creates a haven for drain flies. No wonder you have an odour in your bathroom sink! Let me warn you, that the odour that comes out, will knock your socks off!

Most of us are not plumbers and therefore believe the use of the overflow in our sink is to help prevent floods. I know I did. I never gave any thought to this part of the sink until I invented the WATERDRILLS DRAIN OPENER. I was testing the tool on all the drains in my home and inserted the tubing into the cavity just to see what it would do. And let me tell you, I was both surprised and disgusted by what came out. You can actually clog your sink 2-3 times from the amount of debris that will flow out of this cavity. Of course this depends on the age of your sink.

I would also like to mention, I did run into homeowners who were aware of the overflow cavities and tried to clean them.  Some poured bleach down and others went a more natural way with vinegar and baking soda. This helped with the odour, but did nothing to remove the build-up of debris.  The only difference when I demonstrated the WATERDRILLS DRAIN OPENER for them, was that the sludge coming out was white instead of black! I guess it all boils down to your definition of clean.

I recommend that after cleaning your overflow cavity, sprinkle a little baking soda (1 tsp) inside. Take your WaterDrill and give it a little squirt. Just enough to spread the baking soda around. This will help disinfect and remove any remaining odour. A little care will prolong the life of both your drains and your fixtures!

So think WaterDrills, Let the Water Flow!

ARE YOUR DRAINS READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS?

Hello and welcome to my very first blog. Don’t leave yet, I haven’t mentioned my subject matter. Clogged Drains! I know a topic that everyone is just dying to read all about. If someone would have told me in the beginning of my career that CLOGGED DRAINS would become my speciality, I probably would have said “just kill me now!” Who knew just how exciting it would turn out to be!

I won’t pretend that I know anything regarding blogging or profess to know what I am doing. This will be another learning curve I will try to overcome in the everyday challenges of running a business. Not an easy one, but on all accounts, very important in today’s evolving social media world. To learn more on this topic, here are a couple of sites to help you out WePost Media and HubSpot.

I have done my research and have read countless professional blogs.  My hat goes off to the authors, and the process in which they discover their content. I have tried this route myself. I locked myself in my office for countless hours, but ended up only staring at a blank screen. I came to the conclusion that if I was going to give this a try, it would have to be a story. Please hang with me during my learning curve and I welcome, but never obligate, any feedback or tips to throw my way. So here it goes…..

After finishing business school, I met my late husband, David, who was a design engineer and specialized in Water Cutting Technology. I was hired as an office manager but found myself spending more time in the lab getting my hands dirty. I was fascinated that water could cut through concrete and also found it very exciting to be on the cutting edge of technology. Our Water Cutters can be found in both Canada and the United States from cutting ceiling tiles to deboning chickens. With years of experience working by his side, I came up with the idea that there must be a way to shrink down the technology by using everyday household water pressure to develop a tool for homeowners. The concept behind the WATERDRILLS® DRAIN OPENER was born! Now Patented in Canada and soon to be in the United States.

Being a mother of four, having clogged drains in my home has become more of the norm instead of an occasional inconvenience.  I have tried every method possible over the years, and yes, even the dreaded caustic drain chemicals. Check out David Suzuki Foundation to learn more about the dangers of using caustic drain chemicals.

While there are various remedies on the market, the WATERDRILLS DRAIN OPENER provides a novel and superior solution in virtually every household and business with indoor plumbing as well as cottages, boats and RVs. Most homes do not have any apparatus for efficiently unstopping or cleaning a blocked or slow running sink drain, especially when the blockage occurs in the pipes down stream from the sink. Present solutions to this common problem, include plungers, plumber’s snakes, which often require professional assistance in disassembly of the plumbing which could lead to costly plumbing bills, and most commonly, caustic and environmentally dangerous drain chemicals.

There has been little innovation to address this common household problem over the years.  Most development has been in the direction of reducing (but far from eliminating) the environmental damage done by using drain cleaning chemicals. The do-it-yourself homeowner is always seeking ways to solve typical household problems without hiring professional assistance. This trend combined with the increasing need for safer and environmentally friendly solutions for everyday problems, positions the WATERDRILLS DRAIN OPENER nicely in the current market place and for the foreseeable future.

The WATERDRILLS DRAIN OPENER makes drain maintenance easy, preventing costly repairs down the road. Instead of just putting up with slow draining sinks, homeowners can now easily maintain free flowing drains in all fixtures.

The WATERDRILLS DRAIN OPENER is a unique, easy to use, tool for unclogging sink, bathtub and toilet drains. In addition it provides an easy method for cleaning out sink overflows. Not only does this Tool do a better job unclogging drains than all chemicals and tools combined, it is user friendly for both men and women.

The WATERDRILLS DRAIN OPENER uses only water right from your faucet at normal household pressure. Therefore, it uses no chemicals which makes it completely environmentally friendly and safe for septic systems!  Not only can it be used in emergency situations when a clog occurs, but it can be used as a preventative maintenance tool for mineral accumulation in standard house fixtures such as Jet tubs, Showers Heads, Sink Overflows and Toilet Bowls. No more using a coat hanger to free up the mineral buildup inside the rim of your toilet.

The WATERDRILLS DRAIN OPENER now retails for under $20.00 Canadian. The reasonable cost of this product makes it very competitive with existing drain cleaning chemicals currently on the market, therefore allowing virtually every household to have one. This reusable tool provides a permanent solution for household drain clogs and preventative maintenance and fills today’s demand for products that eliminate environmental pollution.

I have attached EWG Cleaners Database 2012 Hall of Shame if you wish to learn more about what other dangerous household chemicals you have lurking under your kitchen sink.