Are you facing issues with your kitchen or bathroom sink? Your sink might become clogged from time to time. It happens even in the most well-maintained homes. Fortunately, clogged sink drains are fairly straightforward to tackle and resolve.
A clogged sink typically occurs from bits of food, soap, or products that get washed down the sink. This debris accumulates over time. At a predictable point, you will encounter a clog in the pipes. That means your home’s water connection has no room to flow smoothly, leading to a clogged sink.
You should call a plumber if you cannot get rid of a sink clog by yourself. A plumber is also your best option if you keep getting clog after clog. When a sink keeps getting clogged, it could be a sign that there’s a plumbing issue developing. The plumbing issue will need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Do call a plumber if you suspect any trouble.
You may be pleased to know that unclogging a sink can be a easy and straightforward process. Whether it’s the kitchen or bathroom sink, here are a few tips to help with unclogging the line.
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1. Remove Standing Water
Although you can work in standing water before you unclog a drain, try to remove as much as you can. In case you have to pull anything up out of the drain or have a plumber inspect the plumbing pipes, the water has to be gone. Some DIYers might recommend trying to unclog a sink drain using boiling water.
Unfortunately, what’s most likely going to happen is that the boiling water will sit in the pipe or sink, leaving you without the ability to work around it. For grease, oil, dirt, and hair, boiling water won’t be enough. Remove the water first before you try any solutions. Then, get to work with what you intend to do next.
2. Using a Chemical Drain Cleaner
When we think about unclogging a sink, most of us think about grabbing a liquid clog destroyer from a local retail store and pouring that down the drain with the intent of disintegrating any clogs. These products work in the majority of cases, even if they don’t address the root cause.
Even if there is sitting water, a lot of these products will sink beneath, drip down into the pipe, and eventually come in contact with the clog. If you’re searching for a quick solution, most sink decloggers work. However, there are some drawbacks to using heavy-duty chemicals to unclog a sink. They should really only be used when entirely necessary. When you use them too much, they can wear down certain plumbing pipes.
There is also the risk of these chemical drain cleaners contaminating lakes, groundwater, and the environment. Although these risks are not as present today as they were decades ago, we still want to limit the chemicals we’re sending down the sink drain. The chemical drain cleaners may not be the most ideal solution, unless you are prepared for the risks involved.
3. Baking Soda and Vinegar
Some households understandably want to avoid chemicals. Some natural sink declogging methods exist, such as baking and vinegar. However, their effectiveness has mixed results. They don’t always work. As most people find out, it’s extremely likely that you will still need a chemical-based sink drain declogger at the end of the day.
Even so, if you want to give it a try, there’s nothing with that. Natural sink unclogging methods like baking soda and vinegar shouldn’t damage anything. With any link, these eco-friendly solutions might work at loosening what’s down the pipe. If not, you can try another solution in this list.
4. Use a Drain Snake
A drain snake can help loosen debris forming a clog and let water successfully pass through. A sink drain, however, doesn’t always have the space for a snake to bypass. Furthermore, if it’s a very serious clog, you may loosen it in a certain location, but it then travels further down the pipeline.
If you go digging with anything in the pipe, understanding what’s causing the clog is fairly important. These are great for removing hair. Harder materials though, there are differences of opinion there.
5. Plunge the Sink
Kitchen plungers exist. They are similar to what you’d used for a toilet. However, these plungers are specially designed for the kitchen sink. A plunger is very effective at using pressure to move a clog. Just like with a drain snake, whatever you loosen can travel further down the line. For most clogs, this is fine.
Depending on the material and where a clog occurs further down, it can be very expensive to inspect and address. Most clogs break apart. Not all do. If you’re confident about what’s causing the clog, a kitchen plunger can be a great investment.
6. The P-Trap Can Be Removed
The P-trap sits under the sink. At the very least, it’s important to know what a P-trap is. It’s a curved pipe designed to hold water. As a P-trap holds water, this creates a natural seal. Gases from the sewer are not then able to make their way up into a kitchen or bathroom.
Depending on the type of clog, loosening the P-trap and removing it is somewhat straightforward and one way to physically eliminate a clog. That said, it’s way more work than other methods.
7. Buy and Use a Strainer
A strainer catches everything. It’ll catch food, hair, and anything that drops into the sink. This nifty device will prevent materials from getting down into the drain. Often, clogs occur because a few things get wash down there and start building. As it accumulates more materials, they will form around the pipes and that’s how a blockage occurs.
A strainer prevents that from happening. It will be a visual indicator of all the things that would normally run down your sink drain. However, the strainer will catch the residue and minimize the probability of clogs from happening.
