All my bathroom drains are so slow. Before I go buy some drano or whatever, isn't there some solution I can mix up at home to pour down there and clear them out (like with vinegar and something?)
Plain boiling water will usually clear slow moving (not completely clogged) drains. You have to use a lot of boiling water though, so it can be a slow process (unless you have several really big pots). The great thing about it though is its virtually free and no chemicals of any kind are involved. I've never tried baking soda and vinegar, but that sounds like a great idea too.
Vinegar when poured on soda causes a chemical reaction that cleans as it produces gas and froth. You can start with pouring soda down the drain and the pouring vinegar on top of it. Once it stops foaming, pour boiling water down the drain.
This might work but if it's been draining slow for some time it may not. Have you checked the U joint under the sink to see if a small item has been caught in it. Also look down the drain with a flashlight to see if you can see what is in there. It's easy for small objects to go down the drain and get stuck.
1 cup baking soda first then 1 cup white distilled vinegar. If you use a box of baking soda in your fridge. when you chnge, instead of throwing it away use it. Or if your current box is over a year old use it. You can repeat this as need flushing with boiling water helps if drains are stubborn.
baking soda and vinegar work great!
Pour baking soda down the drain and then pour vinegar until it bubbles up. Let it sit for an hour.
For $2 Home depot has a small plastic snake you can clear out anything down the drain you can reach (hair, etc.) then do the baking soda/vinegar then boiling water.
I live in a house with pipes from the cave man days and I have to do this often but it keeps the drains moving.
Drain 0 or Liquid Plumber is great stuff. Be careful to keep the kids away, but
the results are usually much better than vinegar. The next step is a real
plumber for $100 or $200..
I tried everything for a slow bathroom sink, natural products and Drano ( I was desperate). As it turns out, the best solution was the Turbo Snake. It was $10 at Bed Bath and Beyond. I was really surprised but, the drain is still clear several weeks later.
its vinegar and baking soda. I have long naturally curly hair so i'm very familiar with slow drains! Liquid Plumber works WAY better than Drano if you are choosing between the 2. good luck!
Our plumber told us to NEVER use draino as it destroys your pipes. He told us to use bleach. Pour a few cups down the drain & let it set for a few hours. We have 2 rental properties & this has worked most of the time for us on our properties. Occasionally, a drain is really slow or completely clogged & we have to have it snaked. If someone has long hair, make sure you've got a screen over the drain to prevent too much hair from going down.
I use alka seltzer tablet....It worked great for me.
Not sure about a quick fix like that. They do sell a turbo snake that uses no chemicals but simply a line that you put in the drain and it will grab whatever is causing the trouble, usually its hair. Every now & then you can pour boiling water down the drain too and that will help disolve any soap or shampoo that builds up in drains.
Hope this helps
S. from Vegas
This is the grossest thing to do... but... use a wire hanger and fish out the hair.
Hi S., When ever my drains start draining slow I put boiling water in my drains to melt and or lossen up grease, hair, what ever may be blocking the flow of water, for the most part this has worked very well. J.
Please don't buy Drano...it is extremely toxic and you don't want that in your home. There are safer alternatives, here is one:
¼ cup of Tough & Tender, Mix in 2-3 tsp Sol-U-Mel, Pour mixture down the drain. Follow mixture with 2 cups boiling water and let sit for an hour or so. Pour a kettle of boiling water down drain to flush remaining debris.
Contact me if you need to know where to find Tough & Tender and Sol-U-Mel.
