We Offer Financing!

Learn More

DIY Drain Cleaning Tips

A clogged drain is the ultimate party pooper. You can’t use the sink and there are only a few more hours left until your guests arrive! Lucky for you, there are some emergency hacks that can have your drain temporarily up and running again. Try using these five tips in order and let us know if they did the trick on our Facebook page!

  1. Wet Vacuum
    This is the first step in removing large blockages from your drain. Remove the filter from your vacuum and place the nozzle as tight as you can to the drain (a smaller nozzle works best). Place your vacuum on the highest setting and see if you can remove any major food or hair blockages from your drain.
  1. Coat Hanger
    Straighten out your wire hanger as best you can and create a hook on the very end. Push the hook into your drain cover and see what you can fish up. It is important to remember that you are trying to pull things up when fishing, not push them down. This should remove any of the leftovers that the wet vac might have missed.
  1. Boiling Water
    Simple enough. Boil a pot of water on your stove and slowly pour it down the drain. Do this two or three times to let the water work for a few seconds in between. This should start removing the gunk that is stuck to the walls of your drain. We do however, recommend letting it cool for a few seconds before you pour it. Extreme heat can be detrimental to your pipes.
  1. Baking Soda & Vinegar
    Take ⅓ cup of baking soda and ⅓ cup of vinegar and watch it fizz. Immediately pour it down the clogged drain for the best results. This helps with the removal of the stuff you missed earlier in the process.
  1. Caustic Soda
    You can pick some up at your local hardware store for about $20. Be careful though, it causes nasty chemical burns so make sure you cover any part of your skin that might come into contact with the cleaning solution. Stir the solution with some water in a mop bucket to dilute it a bit before pouring it down the drain. This will break up the build up on your drain walls and help prevent future problems. Once you let it sit for 30 minutes, wash it down with boiling water to complete your clean.

Bonus Tip: try mixing warm water with dish soap. Pour the mixture down the drain – the slippery liquid usually has the ability to loosen whatever it is that’s causing the clog and allows it to slip through the pipes. This also works on clogged toilets!

Did it work? Hopefully the answer is yes, but you aren’t out of the woods just yet. Clogged drains can be a reoccurring problem and go deeper than you initially thought. For a full drain cleaning that will last, call the experts at Levine & Sons. We will take care of the issue and advise you on some ways to prevent it in the future. To schedule service, call 888-538-4631 or click around on our website!

 

Skip to content