It’s frustrating to watch water collect in your sink. You brush your teeth, and instead of the toothpaste slaloming away, it floats atop the standing water.
Okay, there’s a problem. But what can you do about it?
Here are five ways to try to unclog the drain yourself
- Boil water and, using oven mitts, pour the water directly down the drain. Don’t do this if you have plastic PVC pipes. Boiling water could soften them enough to cause damage.
- Straighten a wire coat hanger and then bend one end into a hook. Push the hanger into the drain to fish out hair and soap and gunk. Once you’ve removed as much as you can, flush the drain with hot water.
- Combine a third of a cup each of baking soda and vinegar in a measuring cup. As it starts to fizz, pour it down the sink. The chemical reaction should remove built-up gunk . If time allows, let it sit for an hour or, better, overnight. Then flush the drain with hot water.
- Use a plunger. The same tool that unclogs your toilet can also unclog your drain. Clean the plunger – why redistribute possible germs? Place it over the drain and push up and down a few times. Then run hot water through to see if the clog has been cleared.
- Take out everything under your sink. Put a bucket under the P-Trap. It’s the curved pipe that runs to your drain pipe. It’s where many items get stuck. Take the trap off slowly to avoid splashing gunk everywhere. Dump the excess water into the bucket. Rinse out the trap. If needed, use a coat hanger to loosen debris stuck in the pipe. Rinse the trap before reattaching to the sink.
Sink still not draining? We’re here to clear up pesky drain problems. Call Eyman Plumbing today at 402-731-2727.
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