Now I KNOW this post has nothing to do with cooking,
BUT…
It has everything to do with the hygiene in your bathroom.
Ok, well maybe not everything, but quite a bit.
‘Cause if your bathroom sink isn’t draining well, it’s just going to harbor germs and bacteria and everyone knows that’s not a good thing, especially this time of year when it’s flu season.
Since we moved into this house, I’ve had a problem with both of our master bath sinks draining slowly.
VERY. SLOWLY.
So slowly in fact, that I called a plumber.
It remedied the situation in my sink for a little while, but only took another few months for it to become clogged again.
Yes, it’s probably my shoulder length hair that has a lot to do with it, but still.
I think the last people to live in the house clogged it up pretty darn well before we even moved in.
I wasn’t interested in removing the u-pipe under the sink because that’s just complete grossness and I’m not going there. I have absolutely NO desire to see the crud in that pipe.
I shudder just to think about it!
That gross black gook – ICK!
I was disgusted enough just to remove the sink plug so that I could get a clear shot for pouring the necessary ingredients into the drain. My skin was crawling and I was gagging just from that.
Yeah, I’m a wuss.
So, instead of spending your well-earned money on those chemical sink unclogger thingies that smell bad and as I’ve found, don’t always work, use three things that you probably already have in your home – baking soda, white distilled vinegar and plain ol’ tap water.
TA DA!!!!
I have to say, it worked like a charm.
I can’t wait to brush my teeth tonight and watch all of the water go DOWN the drain instead of seeing it accumulate in the basin.
AND the absolute BEST part of this whole thing (besides the working sink, of course) is that you’re doing a good thing by the environmento!
You’ll get good karma for that. 😉
I found this at Heavenly Homemakers.
Don’t judge my filthy sink.
I thought it might be pointless to try and clean it before I started taking pictures.
You need to see real life and my real life is a very dirty sink and stains from me just coloring my hair.
It’s life and I’m not going to fake it.
How to Unclog a Sink Drain – Naturally
1/2 cup baking soda
1 cup white distilled vinegar
large pot of boiling water
Place a bowl or container large enough to catch any drips under the u-pipe of the sink. You’ll want to do this, trust me. There won’t be a lot of water, but it will be enough for anything you don’t remove to get wet and yucky-like.
Unscrew the bolt behind the pipe to release the sink stopper, if necessary and remove the stopper from the drain. Clean that while you’re at it, too.
Place a rag into the sink hole to prevent the bubbles from coming up and spilling out into the sink. This will make sure that the enzymatic reaction takes place in the drain where it’s supposed to.
Using a damp cloth, wipe around the drain to clean the area around the hole.
Pour the 1/2 cup baking soda into the drain.
Slowly pour the 1 cup of vinegar into the sink.
Allow the magic to happen for at least one half hour.
While you’re waiting, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
At the end of 30 minutes, slowly pour the boiling water into the sink and listen to the wonderful sound of the water running all the way down the UNCLOGGED drain!!!
Comments & Reviews
You are such a smart girl! I’ll have to try this on our sinks and maybe the shower too. The hubby swears it’s my long hair doing it but I think he’s going bald. He just has such thick hair it’s harder to tell, lol.
When you say “put a rag in the hole” do you me the drain hole? I’m going to try this tonight. I’ve been dealing with this stupid drain since we’ve lived here!
Amy, no, not the drain hole, the hole that is up near the rim of the sink. Not all sinks have them – ours don’t, but most should have them. You do need to leave the drain hole unplugged so that the enzymatic reaction can take place and the bubbles can happen. You just don’t want it spilling up into the sink from that second hole.
Wow, isn’t this just handy? All of the ingredients could be found inside your home and the process didn’t take that long either. I also also use this solution whenever I clean my sink and it is truly effective. However, I wash the drain with liquid soap to counteract the smell of the vinegar. Thanks for sharing, Lynne. Good day! 🙂
Darryl Iorio
Baking soda and vinegar are some of the ingredients in commercial cleaning products, too!
I can’t unscrew the bolt from the back as instructed in the first step. Does it turn right or left? Mine is completely stuck.
Mary,
The only thing I can suggest is “righty – tighty, lefty loosey” as to which way you should unscrew the bolt to loosen it. If that doesn’t work, try a search for loosening it on YouTube. There must be something.
Mary turn it Left just remember lefty Lucy, righty tighty.
This works a plumber told me to try this and if I still needed him to call. It worked no plumber needed. I do this once a month as regular maintenance.
My Dad was a plumber and we have done this for 60 years ( he would be 105 if he were still here). Many people wanted to know his secret, but if he had let it out he would have walked away with nothing. He never charged anyone but a few bucks anyway. Works great, but if your sink keeps doing that change to a good liquid hand soap.
Awesome, Janice!
Thanks so much for the comment!
Your dad was a wise man. 😉
I don’t see why this wouldn’t work on a kitchen drain too but would I need to adjust the amount of the products or keep it them same?
Thanks
Lisa, I haven’t done it on our kitchen sink, but it could sure use it! When I do it, I’m going to use the same amount of ingredients and then increase if I have to, maybe doing a second dose with the same amount.
Hope that helps!
Why a bowl under the U pipe? I cannot get to mine. The people before us build the vanity in and around all the pipes. I would gave to partially dismantle it to get to the U pipe.
Christine,
it’s to catch whatever water might drip out of the pipe, just to be on the safe side.
Water, baking soda, and vinegar are all common things that I find in my mom’s kitchen. It’s good to know that there are multiple ways to unclog a drain. I think it’s good to know about these things because a plumber isn’t always available at any hour of the night.
Exactly, Robbie! And plumbers need time off, too!
I have never heard of using baking soda and vinegar to unclog a drain, that is so clever! How did you find out about this? It looks like it worked so well! My daughters all share a bathroom, and as you can imagine, lots of hair goes down the sink. We are always pulling off the u-pipe to clean it out, but this looks so much easier! Would it work on a shower drain too?
Addie, it works very well and I found it by doing a search on the internet because I didn’t want to use the harsh cleaners.
I was going to use it in the shower when it started draining slowly, but pulling out the hair seemed to do the trick.
Thanks very much for this natural homemade drain cleaner. My kitchen sink was clogged and it worked like magic. Now I am going to buy some extra baking soda and vinegar to keep for future clogs. No more nasty chemicals. Great article! Thank you.
Sometimes we experience blocked drain in our homes especially when we have party. Those Left foods or even hairs, and some small toiletries cause blockage. Emergency clog of the drain is very hustle. We always used baking soda or vinegar but using toilet plunger is a nice tip that I got from you. Thank you for sharing this! Can I also share this with my followers on pinterest?
Hey Lynne, thanks for sharing such an informative post. you had described clearly about the unclogging process of a sink drain.that will help me a lot for doing that correctly. keep sharing this type of post. Good wishes.. 🙂
great!!!
just did this – I think it worked!! thank you!!
Molly, that’s so awesome to hear! You’re welcome!