How to unclog a drain is one of the most common questions that any house owner searches at least once a season. We didn’t realize but drains are actually one of the most important support system of our house that keeps on working almost 24×7. And so, it’s very common for buildups to form due to tangled hairs, grease, soap froth, food scraps, mineral buildups, etc.
When drain gets clogged, it becomes a kind of emergency as your whole house comes to a halt but thankfully, it’s doesn’t happen immediately. But, you need to be mindful of early signs of drains clogging such as slow draining, bad smell, gurgling, etc. In this article, we will get to know all the easy ways using which you can unclog your drain pipes. So, scroll down to know all the effective ways about how to unclog a drain.
Safety First: Things to Do Before Starting Unclogging
Don’t directly start unclogging without preparation. Even though it feels a minor thing to do according to your situation, because the situation can get really ugly in an instant. So, it’s better to be prepared than sorry. Hence, follow these steps to prepare yourself to unclog drain –
- Of course wear old clothes,
- Now, turn off garbage disposal if it’s connected to the sink
- Wear protective gloves
- Protect your sink and tub surface with plastic bags or old clothes
- Avoid mixing harsh chemicals in advance, they can release harmful fumes if left open.
How to Unclog a Drain With a Plunger (Step by Step)
Plunger is one of the simplest and most effective tool that you can use to easily unclog a drain especially if there are blockage due to small hairs, soap scum, food debris, etc.. There are many types of plunger, you need to make sure what to use where for the best effectiveness.
For sink, showers and tub, you can use the cup plunger, the classis red one with flat rim. as it form a seal on the flat surface to give the best suction force that takes out drain blockage.
To use a plunger to unclog a drain through shower or tub, firstly cover any overflow opening with wet cloth, now put plunger, use 15-20 short plunges without moving it. Start slow and make it faster and stronger progressively. Now, remove the plunger and see if water flows naturally, if yes, then run hot water down the drain to clear the pipe clean, otherwise repeat this process a few times.
To use a plunger on sink, firstly, remove the stopper and then start plunging. Steps stay the same.
How to Unclog a Drain with Baking Soda and Vinegar
If you weren’t able to use the plunger technique above or it didn’t work for you then you need to move towards chemicals. However, you don’t need to use harmful chemicals because here we will discuss how to unclog a drain naturally using just baking soda and vinegar which is readily available in every household or kitchen. This method is effective in helping you get rid of soap scum, grease and mild buildup.
Follow these steps –
- Take hot boiling water in a kettle and pour is slowly down the drain. It will loosen up stucked debris and grease
- Now, add baking soda powder directly into the drain.
- Next, add vinegar slowly, it will start the reaction that creates fizz and foam.
Cover the drain pipe with cloth and let it sit for 15-20 mins so that the fizz and foam will spread in the pipe and trap the debris, grease and buildups. Now, drain with more hot water and the drain should be unclogged now.
How to Unclog a Drain with Standing Water
If your drain is clogged and you have standing water in your shower or sink, etc. then you can still unclog the drain just that, you need to take some extra precautions.
Firstly, make sure there is not any electric item near the standing water. Now, remove this excess water to level the drain surface to use the plunger.
Now, use a plunger or drain snake carefully. Use multiple short plunges or drain snake shots and only then remove them from drain. If the drain gets unclogged, pour some warm water to clear it from inside.
How to Unclog a Drain with Hairs
If the drain is clogged at shower or tub then there is a high chance that it will have stuck hairs inside which are blocking the drain pipe. A bunch of hairs, entangled, act like a bunch of threads. So, sometimes plunger losses effectiveness if there hairs are part of debris. Follow these steps to unclog drain with stuck hairs –
- Firstly remove the drain cover and use hair removal tool or wire hook to remove the stuck hair debris that you can easily take out.
- Now, your drain is ready to be cleaned using techniques or chemicals.
- Firstly, you should use a cup plunger to try to plunge out the drain. (see technique in detail above)
- Then, you can first go for natural method i.e., hot water + baking soda + vinegar (see the method above)
- After that, you can use harsh chemicals to burn out the debris and clear your drain pipes.
To avoid hairs to become problem again, you can use a drain catcher which will trap all these buildups and hairs to let your drain work freely. Yeah that means you’ll need to clear the catcher in regular basis but that’s still better than getting stuck with clogged drain and bringing your house to a halt.
How to Unclog a Drain without Harsh Chemicals
Harsh chemicals such as drano, toilet cleaners, etc. are available to use to unclog drains but they release harmful fumes which are especially bad for small kids, old and sick people. So, if you want to unclog your drain without using any harsh chemicals, you can try these natural methods that are proven to work in unclogging a drain without harsh chemicals –
- Hot water flush: Pour down hot water using a kettle that will help in loosening the grease or debris from pipe’s inside and clear the clogging inside pipe.
- Dish soap lubrication: pour down some liquid soap and leave it there for 10 mins, then add hot water. It can also loosen up stuck debris that’s clogging the pipe.
- Salt + Baking Soda: Add salt and baking soda in hot water. Then, pour it down the drain. Leave it there for 10 mins, then try draining water. This method can dissolve the grease and debris and hence, unclog the drain.
- Manually clean the drain pipe: If drain pipe is detachable, you can take it outside and wash it using garden hose. If not, you can use long wire hook or straight up wire hanger to form a long hook and use that to remove debris forcefully from the pipe.
When to Call Professional Plumber to Unclog the Drain
If you’ve tried all these method and still the clogging problem is not resolved. Or, it was resolved but the issue is very frequent then it’s better to contact a plumber to get to the root of the problem. He might charges a little but you can make him survey your house and tell the root cause which you can avoid to avoid getting stuck with clogged drain every next week.
How to Avoid Clogged Drains
Now, if you’ve got rid of clogged drains either by DIY methods of professional services, you can be careful above these things so that you won’t stuck with clogged drain problem after every few weeks –
- Routinely flush your drains with hot water
- Avoid dumping grease in the drain pipe, it can clog the pipe.
- Use drain covers/catchers which traps those debris which have chance to clog your drains.
- Use baking soda + vinegar method on all drains once a month so that there won’t be any big buildup that completely clogs the drain.
Using all these methods and be mindful above this problem will save you countless hours and the annoyance of getting stuck with clogged drains in your house. Hope this article helped.
