A clogged drain or an overflowing sink is the worst nightmare for a homeowner. Imagine having friends over and you get a clogged drain, sink or toilet. If this persists then a pungent smell penetrates your house and can get disgusting forcing you take help from local drain cleaning services to fix the issue.
A clogged drain is your own doing and no one else’s fault. How? Regularly throwing soap scum, blobs of hair, food waste, oils, fats and other stuff down your drain can cause the drains and pipelines to be clogged overtime. All this collects in the drain pipes and gets stuck along with hair and oils which tend to solidify and cause an obstruction. This obstruction gradually increases and cones at a point when the water cannot easily flow through the drain pipes easily and hence comes up and overflows bringing with it all the gunk and drain waste.
Below are some of the top drain cleaning tricks to completely unclog your drain quickly and easily.
Boiling Water
Hot boiling water melts and solidifies all the solid gunk and food waste inside your drain pipes. When this happens then all the gunk goes down your drain. Do this 3 to 4 times till the water flows easily.
Baking Soda, Vinegar And Boiling Water
Baking soda and vinegar when mixed together cause a chemical reaction which breaks down solid particles and solid waste. Take baking soda and vinegar in the ratio of 1:1. Pour baking down your drain and let it sit for 10 minutes. Pour vinegar on top of it and let the chemical breakdown occur. After 2 to 3 hours pour a kettle full of hot boiling water to wash all the broken down debris down the drain to clear it. It is best to leave it overnight and you will be left with a clean unclogged drain.
You can do the same trick with baking soda and lemon juice and baking soda with salt. All the methods will lead towards a clear clog but the best method is combining baking soda and vinegar.
Drain Snake
This is a great method to get rid of stubborn clogs from your drain pipes. A drain snake is a metal pipe with a coiled metal in the end. This is best for washroom sinks and shower areas. You will need to put the snake down the drain slowly till you feel a blockage or a clog with the metal coil. Then you should coil around the clog and pull it up. You will get blobs of hair along with soap scum and other stuff that went down your drain. Wear gloves as this could get nasty. Do this 3 to 4 times so that your drain is clog free. Pour hot water for a final washdown.
If you do not have a drain snake then a wire hanger is the perfect substitute. Straighten your wire hanger and coil from one end and you have a cheap drain snake.
Caustic Soda
It is a chemical component which is highly acidic and dangerous. Make sure to wear protective gloves and safety goggles before using it. It gives off a bad smell as well. Mix 3 liters of cold water with 3 cups of caustic soda. The mixture will begin to fizz. Pour it in the drain and let it sit for at least an hour. Then pour hot boiling water to flush down the clog and impurities.
Once your drain is unclogged you need to make sure not to throw all the stuff down the drains. Place metal strainers to catch all the food debris, hair and soap scum and then throw it away. Try these and see which trick works best for you. It is better if you do these once a week to avoid clog and plumbing problems.
Final Word
If none of these methods work perfectly and you still have a semi clogged drain then you should call in drain contractors as there is no other way and he will be able to clear your clog and guide you to not out down hair, grease, papers, and similar thing down the drain because they clog the pipes.