How to unclog a drain?

The "greenist" thing to do is put 1/2 to a whole cup of baking soda followed by a cup of white vinegar. Then wait a bit and follow will very hot tap water or water you have just boiled. Also unscrew the stopper and pull up. there is probabl hair and soap on it. clean that off and try to prevent hair from going down the drain.

You can use Baking Soda and Vinegar. It will bubble up and dislodge any gunk in the drains. It's safe and non-hazardous to the kiddos! Works great!

Yes, hot water.
Or as a regular maintenance thing, I use baking soda and regular white vinegar... putting the baking soda first over the drain then pouring vinegar over it. About equal parts of each. (I use 1/2 to 1 cup each or a little more with the vinegar).
Then let it sit and do not flush or use the sink for about 20 minutes. It also gets rid of smells. You can also repeat the process as many times as you like.

Or Liquid Plummer type things works as well.
But, if you clean out the "U" pipe under the drain... it's always good. Or, use a drain snake. My Hubby has done that. Because, slow drains are a gradual build-up of things..ie: like a clogged artery.... hair, grime, oils/lotions from washing our faces and all our beauty products, shaving cream/ beard hair from men shaving etc. All of that creates a slow drain.

Regular maintenance will help. Like the vinegar/baking soda combo.

Good luck,
Susan

If you can easily unscrew the pipes under the sink and physically remove the clog that works the best. No tools are required on mine. I have to clean mine out regularly for the same reason.
Good luck...I know I hate a clogged sink.

Hi E.
Use pure Clorox.
It is better to do it when it can sit in the pipes awhile like before bed time or before you leave for the day.

Try Drain-FX. I heard about it on the Gary Sullivan show and it cleared my drains easily & effectively. It turns your faucet into a mini pressure washer...no need for chemicals. I bought it online. Great plumbing tool.

A friend once told me to use baking soda and vinegar. It works great and it is not toxic. Put the baking soda in first and then pour some vinegar on top. It is cheap and safe. Doesn't matter how much you use.

Extra Strength Drano is good but there is GUNK in the trap of the pipe, the elbow part. You may need to snake it out. Have fun I just dealt with the same thing

the baking soda & vinegar trick works great! and, it's a good maintenance tip too - do it periodically to avoid slow drains!

Fill the sink with water and then drain. Do it several times. If it doesn't work, use a plunger. If that doesn't work, call a plumber. Liquids like Liqquid Plumber eat the drains.

I have come across the coolest tool. It's called Drain-FX and it's eco-friendly & reusable. I heard about it through Gary Sullivan on his radio show. I was able to easily clear my kitchen sink & bathroom sink. I highly recommend it.

I thought a littel liquid would be the BEST solution, it turned out to be a nightmare. The liquid eventually ate through the pipe and made a hole. The best solution would be call your plumber and clear your pipes.

Good E..
have you checked to see perhaps there are hairs or any other obstacles stuck down in the drain? I know this has happened in my household. I have inserted a wire that can go easily all the way down & have removed nasty furball of human hair. Maybe you ought to check that. You can also use Drano. I use this product periodically both on the sinks ( bathroom & kitchen) as well as the bathroom tubs, and it does the job.
Good luck.
D.

We used the cheap drain cleaner from the Dollar Tree. It works wonders!!

If you or your husband are handy, I suggest removing the trap from under the sink and cleaning it out. When we did this we found the culprit... the missing toothbrush and a giant, gross hair ball! That should do the trick. Be careful using all of those products that claim to unclog the pipes. We actually used some and our plumber told us it actually ate through the old pipes in our historic home. Now we clean the traps and hire a roter rooter once a year. Good luck!

Wrong product. Get disposable gloves, lift out the disgusting little drain thing and you will see it covered with crud to be removed. Ewwwwww. But it has to be done.

Then boil some water and pour it down the drain as this will release any other crud that happens to be there. Repeat as needed.

You do not need drain cleaners, especially with small kids running around.

I've found that Liquid Plumbers Foaming Pipe Snake works really well.

Liquid Drain-O...Make sure you use the entire bottle! :)

Hi E.,

What I use instead of expensive harsh chemicals is simple: pour a half box of baking soda in the drain, then follow with a cup (or so) of white vinegar (it will bubble and fizz). Then pour a saucepan full of boiling water down the drain. Repeat if necessary. It works like a charm!

Use a big bottle of the cheapest can find of lime or any other flavor carbonated water...
It really works...Good luck

Hi E., I have the same problem sometimes on the right side of my kitchen sink, so what i do I boil water and put it down the sink, not much can bare up under boiling hot water, it has worked every time. J. L.

Clean the drain trap first. That is located under your sink and it looks like a U. Unscrew both ends and have a bowl under it for the water that is going to come out.You will need some shop towels too.Clean that out first and then unscrew the top of the drain stop that is in your sink and clean all that out. That should take care of the problem. If it does not then use Drano Max Gel.

I don't like liquid uncloggers. It seems half the time they don't work and they're full of really harsh chemicals. When our sinks are draining that slow it's usually because there's some nasty clog in the pipe. My husband disconnects the U-shaped elbow pipe under the sink and also takes the stopper out of the sink. Then use a snake, or running water or even old toothbrushes to push/scrape the gunk out. It's an extremely disgusting job but it doesn't take long and doesn't put nasty chemicals into the environment. ... if the problem isn't in the pipes that are immediately under the sink, I don't know what to tell you! Good luck.

Our plumber has said that stiff like Liquid Plumber and Draino damage pipes. We have used bleach. We recently started a remodel and found the reason our drains have always run so slow. It was because the main pipe (in our 1936 beach house) was so filled with gunk over the years that there was only about an inch of flow (in a 4 inch pipe)!!

ditto baking soda and vinegar, but I use boiling vinegar.

Hi E.! I remember when my sink used to drain so slow. I used to use those other brands that helps contribute the clogging. When you use brands that have phosphates included in their ingredients it doesn't help our drain system and not to mention it hurts our environment. You can google anything about phosphates and how that is bad for our drains and surrounding environment. Since I've learned about that and switched out all my cleaning products to phosphate free products, my drains haven't acted up. I buy it from a store that is entirely eco-friendly...which also means kid-friendly! I definitely became more aware that we are putting our kids and families through harmful chemicals and toxins with those other brands and I didn't want that. PLUS, when you switch out all your products to kid/eco-friendly stuff, you're helping the environment, which ultimately keeps our families safer in the end. Hope this helps!

Oh please don't use the poisons. All of the plumbers that I know or have been to the house say so as well. Baking Soda, Vinegar, then hot boiling water several minutes later and do this on a regular basis for showers/bathtub.

If you don't get your drain unclogged, you may need a plumber. My husband is a licensed and insured plumber who has lots of experience unclogging drains. He has many repeat customers and does charge for things that are not needed. Call him at ###-###-#### Farrell Plumbing

Good Luck!!
Tina

I use liquid plumber gel, just get the small bottle and use the whole thing. It works everytime for me

We had a similar thing happen and it turned out not to be a pipe problem at all, but rather, the stopper in the sink was a little off. Even though it looked like it was all the way up, when my husband got behind the sink to jingle that little thing (I wish I knew what exactly he did!) the stopper got back into place and the drain started flowing again. See if you can check the stopper first, then if it still drains slowly, follow the advice from the other ladies about baking soda and vinegar...

Baking soda, vinegar and hot water works like a charm!

Good luck.
G. B.

Honestly your best bet is to undo the pipes below. Most likely the drain is full of hair.Even if you think "no way" you will find hair in there. Unfortunatly I have expireenced this, no matter what I have used it never completely worked. Now I just undo the joint(the u shaped pipe) and empty the contents into the wast basket. Put a bucket under the sink for good measure, if not all the hair caomes out I take pliers and pull it out.(the thought of using my bare hands for that is a little to much.) After doing this put it back together and the drain should work great for months. It takes just a few minutes and no chemicals are involved.

try some vinegar and baking soda solution.

I never bought liquid drain decloggers. I usually use the draino chrystals. But also found that if you pour white vinegar in a drain & then pour baking soda on top of that it fizzes alot. After repeating this several times it help the drain. How ever if you have alot of grease in your drain I would suggest that you use Dawn dish detergent straight & quite alot 1st with hot water.