DIY tricks on how to clean a drain

When faced with an obstructed sink, the adage “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” rings true. There are a lot of things that you must not let go down your drains, especially if your home has a septic system. For starters, you can avoid dealing with obstructed sinks by not letting grease, various food particles, and even hair go down your drain. A tiny piece of wire mesh comes in handy since it can effectively catch food particles and other items from going down. If you have a mesh, ensure that you clean it from time to time to avoid it getting smelly. Check out the following DIY tricks on how to clean a drain.

Now, just remember that nobody is perfect. We can get lazy at times, you ask your kids to wash the dishes, and they do a haphazard job, or you become too preoccupied you don’t notice the pile of hair within your tub. It is not surprising if you end up with an obstructed drain sooner than you think.

Most of the time, the laundry and tub sinks are the ones that frequently suffer from clogs. Hair and various body care items can obstruct your tub sink while lint and fibers coming from your washing machine are the usual culprits of laundry sink clogs.

As a result, you have no choice but to wonder how to clean a drain in a snap. You’ll have an issue with commercial-based drain cleaners since they are highly toxic and can corrode your pipes, not good for your septic system, harmful to your ground water, and damaging to your tub or sink. Over time, you need to change sink and drain fixtures because of corrosion secondary to the use of commercial drain cleaners and spend extra money on it.

Before Resorting to a Do-it-Yourself Drain Cleaner

Bear in mind that you have to utilize DIY drain cleaners on a regular basis, which translates to using it religiously before the appearance of clogs. Also, you might have to do it more than once for it to be effective. A lot of DIY drain cleaners can take an hour before it eventually works.

As inspired by the Heimlich maneuver, first determine if the clog is visible. It is not something you look forward to doing, but you have no other recourse but to don your gloves and remove the goop and hair if you can. Moreover, you can attempt plunging your drain and run hot water on it several times in turns. You can get rid of the clog by doing that if it is only a minor clog.

Baking Soda is Undeniably the Best Drain Cleaner

When faced with the question of how to clean a drain, you’ll likely encounter baking soda multiple times. The most typical concoction is the combination of a single cup of baking soda and the same amount of apple cider vinegar. It elicits a powerful foaming action, when followed by hot water, is an ideal routine maintenance. You may need to do it several times though to achieve your desired result.

Baking Soda Along with Lemon Juice

One cup of lemon juice is a bit more expensive than regular apple cider vinegar. However, you’ll like its pleasing smell and is just as effective as vinegar. Homeowners wanting to clear the drain often try this approach in their kitchen sink because of its better smell. Also, run hot water after letting the lemon juice and baking soda concoction foam up after several minutes.

Borax, Salt, and Vinegar

Combine all three and pour down your clogged drain followed by a lot of hot water. It might take a while, but this mixture is effective in clearing the clog.

Boiling Water

A lot of the clogs you encounter builds up due to an excessive amount of various kinds of oils and fats that become cold and solidifies once it is already down your pipe. At times, a kettle of hot, boiling water is enough to work magic and clear the clog. You can also utilize boiling water with its above fixtures. But just be sure that you pour the boiling water directly down your drain or risk damaging any plastic fixture or cracking of any porcelain.

If All Else Fails

At times, your efforts are all futile, and the best remedy on how to clean a drain is still to snake your pipes. With drain cleaners, they are only effective if the clogs are small and insignificant. But with bigger clogs such as lumps of a hairball, doing all of these DIY tricks aren’t simply enough. That’s when having a plumbing snake comes in handy under such dire circumstances.