Unclogging a Bathroom Sink Drain
July 22, 2009 – 5:29 amA clogged bathroom sink is nasty, but it doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money to unclog it. Of course, you can call a plumber and he will solve the problem for you in a couple of minutes. However, there are simply ways of unclogging it. Normally, bathroom sinks are just clogged by hair, soap, toothpaste and creams that went down it.
For these simple homemade clogs, there is nothing like a homemade unclogging. Here is how you can do it.
If there is some water still flowing through the clog then your problem is not too serious. Such partial clogging, where at least some water is coming through, are the easiest to solve.
The simplest way to try and unclog it is just pouring boiling water down the drain. If the clog was caused by some greasy substance, this solution will do the trick.
If it didn’t work, you need some stronger measures for it. A safe home remedy is mixing vinegar with baking soda. This is very effective against most clogging element in a bathroom. It won’t do anything against hairs, but hairs don’t stick to each other alone.
So, pour baking soda down the drain and pour vinegar on the top of it. Let it rest for at least 30 or 45 minutes. Pour boiling water after waiting and see what happens.
Sometimes, you’ll need to use a plunger on the top of that. The vinegar and soda is certainly doing their job, but some pressure will help it. Use the plunger to put pressure and suctions. This pulling and pushing will put some movement into your pipe. Some people also use stronger substances with some caustic chemicals. Others, however, mind the environment and stick to natural means, which also work in most cases.
For major clogging, you would perhaps need to remove the pipe and clean it. If nothing helps, possibly the clogging is way down the pipe. In this case, you might need to stick a steel cable down it and see what happens. Normally just pushing and pulling it will do the trick. If some water is coming through go for the vinegar and soda method or some caustic chemicals, like caustic soda.
In almost all cases, you’ll be able to unclog your bathroom sink drain. Remember to apply any measure before the drain is completely clogged. Partial clogged drains are normally very easy to unclog.