\nWith a few household items and these simple steps, you can learn how to unclog a sink and save yourself a call to the plumber.
\nYou use your sink on a daily basis to rinse everything from your hands, body, and hair to dishes and veggies. So when water starts draining a little more slowly than usual and even the best drain cleaners aren\u2019t working, it might signal a clogged sink. It happens to the best of us, which is why it pays to know how to unclog a sink.\n
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Learning how to unclog a sink starts with understanding which methods work for the type of pipes you have. Take, for instance, boiling water. If you have metal pipes and you suspect hair, soap, grease, or other residue is getting stuck in your drain, boiling water might be the first (and easiest) solution. That said, it\u2019s not for everyone. \u201cDo not use this method on PVC pipes\u201d .\n
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Here\u2019s how to do it:\n
Boil two liters of water.\n
Pour it into the drain opening.\n
Turn on the faucet to see if the boiling water made a difference.\n
Repeat, if necessary.\n
If the problem persists, it\u2019s time to try another method for unclogging a drain.\n
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Maybe you\u2019ve tried boiling water and you\u2019re still dealing with an annoying clogged drain. Or maybe you have PVC pipes and were wise enough to skip that. Either way, you need a simple method for unclogging a sink. Suggests baking soda and vinegar.\n
Yep, you probably already have those ingredients stashed in your pantry. Both baking soda and white vinegar have a bunch of household uses\u2014they\u2019ll clean your laundry, banish soap scum, and keep your refrigerator smelling fresh\u2014and when combined, they make for a simple way to unclog a drain. It works like this:\n
Start by pouring approximately one cup of baking soda into the drain.\n
Follow with one cup of vinegar.\n
Cover the sink with a sink stopper.\n
Let the mixture sit and fizzle for 15 minutes.\n
Remove the stopper and run hot water down the drain.\n
If you notice an improvement, repeat the process until the drain is unclogged.\n
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You\u2019re used to grabbing the toilet plunger when it\u2019s time to unclog the toilet bowl, but you can use a toilet plunger to unclog a sink as well. You can also buy a mini plunger specifically for clogged drains. Follow the steps below to plunge your way to a clear drain.\n
Fill the sink halfway with hot water.\n
Place the plunger over the drain and pump up and down a few times.\n
Remove the plunger and observe whether the water drains.\n
Repeat until the water drains.\n
If you have a double sink, you\u2019ll need to cover one of the drains while you plunge the other. If the water in your sink swirls down with ease, your efforts have worked.\n
Plumber using a snake to unclog bathroom sink drain\n
If none of the above tricks work, you can try to unclog a kitchen sink or bathroom sink by using the Zip-It drain-cleaning tool. But for pesky clogs, try snaking the drain. A plumber\u2019s snake, or drain snake, is a flexible tool that snakes down the drain to dislodge stubborn clogs.\n
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Open the drain by removing the stopper.\n
Feed the snake down the drain.
\nOnce the snake hits an obstruction, crank the handle to dislodge the debris. \u201cDon\u2019t push too hard, so that you don\u2019t push the clog further down the pipe\u201d.\n
Pull the snake (and the gunk clogging your sink) out of the drain.\n
Repeat until the clog is gone. Run hot water to test.\n
If you\u2019ve tried all of the above methods but your sink is still clogged, it\u2019s time to get down and dirty. And by \u201cdown,\u201d we mean under the sink. That\u2019s where a pipe called the sink trap is located, and as a final resort. Here\u2019s how to do that:\n
To avoid a mess, place a newspaper and bucket under the sink trap.\n
Unscrew the slip joints.\n
Take the sink trap to a separate sink or a hose outside to clean all the dirt and grime that has built up in it.\n
Reassemble the sink trap.\n
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Just as important as learning how to unclog a sink is preventing it from happening in the first place. Suggests the following tips to prevent buildup in your drain.\n
Use drain screens on all your drains.\n
Clean drain stoppers on a regular basis.\n
Don\u2019t pour grease down the sink\u2014plumbers never do.\n
If you have metal pipes, pour a liter of hot water down the sink once a week to keep your pipes clean.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With a few household items and these simple steps, you can learn how to unclog a sink and save yourself a call to the plumber. You use your sink on a daily basis to rinse everything from your hands, body, and hair to dishes and veggies. So when water starts draining a little more slowly\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":58782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[176,130,26,122,123,31],"class_list":{"0":"post-58775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tie-life-style","8":"tag-home-tips","9":"tag-house-keeping","10":"tag-kitchen","11":"tag-kitchen-hacks","12":"tag-kitchen-tips","13":"tag-tips"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Web-Alternatech-4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}