If you sense a strange and unpleasant odour in your bathroom if the water is witnessed to be accumulating in place of draining out while taking a shower or if your kitchen sink drains slower than usual, then these are certainly clear signs that your drain is blocked or at the brink of getting blocked anytime soon. If you do not do something fast, your drain will be blocked completely making the kitchen sink or bathroom useless. The only resort left in such cases is calling a professional help. But before the problem gets that serious we are suggesting you a few drain clearing methods that are found to be effective in handling mild drain blockages. The earlier you detect and work on it the more are the chances of success.
Home Remedies For Drain Clearing
Here are a few home remedies that can clear your drain while using ingredients you can easily find in your house kitchen:
Boiling water:
One of the simplest drain clearing methods is to pour boiling water into it. Boil a bucket full of water and pour it down the drain a couple of mugs at a time. Keep a gap of around a minute between each pours so that the hot water can get enough time to work on the blockages deposited. Keep pouring until the water passes through the drain completely without any restriction.
Baking Soda And Salt:
Mix half cup of salt in half cup of baking soda and put it down the drain. Let it sit for 15 minutes and then pour some boiling water over it. The three ingredients will cause a chemical reaction that can dissolve some nasty blocking agents, such as grease and fat.
Baking Soda And Vinegar:
Take a cup and mix half cup baking soda and half cup vinegar in it. As it fizzes, pour it down t drain immediately. As the fizz takes place inside the drain, it will remove the grime, hair and gunk that have built up inside the pipe. Let it sit overnight and then flush hot water into it. The water should be able to pass down the drain with ease. You may also try doing some plunging using a plunger or a drain snake to aid the drain clearing process.
Chemicals Suggested For Drain Clearing:
If home ingredients are not successful in clearing your clogged drain, the next step is to make use of some chemicals:
Dish Detergent:
Pour half cup of dish detergent into the blocked
drain, and then pour some boiling water down. The dish detergent will work as a
lubricant to break down any grease and gunk in the pipeline and enable fast
drain clearing. Once you pour down the hot water, start plunging it with a
plunger or plumber’s snake.
Caustic Soda:
Chemically termed as sodium hydroxide, caustic soda is a nasty chemical that should be used only sparingly. Pour a gallon of cold water in a bucket, and then 3 cups of caustic soda into it. Once it starts fizzing and heating up you can pour it down the clogged drain. Let it sit for 30 minutes and then pour boiling water into it. Repeat if required. However, be sure to keep your eyes, face and hands protected while using this chemical, as it can cause potential damage if comes in contact.
Tools For Drain Clearing At Home
If these above home ingredients and chemicals are not able to do their job you may need to intervene using some drain clearing tools. Some of such tools are plunger, plumber’s snake, hydro-jet, drain auger, wet and dry vacuum, etc. All these tools work differently and are used to enter into the drain and cut the gunk stuck inside and thus enable free water passage. All these recommended above are some of the proven methods of drain clearing. However, if all of them fails then the blockage is more stubborn and serious, and you may need to call for professional help to get rid of it.
