Simple Ways to Clean a Drain

Water clogging is a problem everyone hates. Not only are they extremely hard to deal with, but they can also spread a plethora of diseases if the water is left clogged too long, it’s a great way to attract bacteria and germs to your house.

However, dealing with clogged drains is not a massive task. It’s something we can easily do with a few household appliances. However, if we take a few precautionary steps, we can easily prevent clogs.

In this article, we’re going to discuss a few techniques to deal with clogs and dirty drains as well as a few preventive measures. That being said, let’s get into it!

Uncover Your Drain

Before we start cleaning, we have to prepare the drain accordingly. For this, remove any cover, pop-up socket, or protective filter over your drain. Most of them can be easily opened by rotating them clockwise or counterclockwise.

Also, make sure your sink or bathroom is drained, and there’s no excess water here and there. Also, if possible, wipe your sink and kitchen floor with washcloths and let it dry before you start working.

Add Odour Repellents

Now, the first thing you have to deal with when cleaning a sink is to deal with the odour. The funky smell from clogged drains can be very annoying. However, a few natural odour cleaners can do you a favour without you having to spend a fortune on cleaners.

Firstly, add 1/2th cup of baking soda along with ½ a cup of white vinegar and let it sit inside the sink. Keep it that way for about 15 minutes and then add 500ml of boiling water down the sink. This will take any odour away from your drain.

However, to prevent the smell from forming frequently, add a few teaspoons of salt along with some lemon peels down the sink and let it sit for some time as well.

However, if you have money to spend and you don’t want to spend too much time or effort, you can use any chemical product to deal with the odour quickly. Pour it and let it rest, it’s as easy as that.

Remove Clogs with a Plunger

Now that we’ve dealt with the odour, it’s time to deal with the clogs. Anything can clog a sink, hair, fingernails, tissues from the bathroom, while residues of food, coffee grounds, excess grease and oil from the kitchen can also clog a drain.

If your drain is blocked by something liquid or semi-liquid, the hot water you poured in should be just fine. However, if it’s something solid like food or hair, you’ll have to take care of it.

To use a plunger, first fill your sink with enough amount of water to fill the drain and then use the plunger to seal the drain. Afterwards, gently push a few times, and whatever that’s stuck will make it’s way out. Thus, dealing with the clog.

Use a Barbed Wire Cleaner to Remove the Distant Clogs

While plungers are useful, they can only reach up to a certain distance within the sink. To deal with the clogs stuck far inside the sink, you’d need a barbed wire stick.

You’ll find these specific tools for your sink at most online marketplaces. Put them inside the drain through the sink and reach as far as you can, it’ll take down everything along the way with it.

However, if you have an aerosol drain cleaner or gas-based drain cleaner, you can easily clean it by attaching it to the drain and turning it on.

Melt the Grease

If you still have greasy moulds or clogs inside your skin, you have to deal with it by heating it. Wrap around a heating pad and apply temperature to melt the grease away. Pour some water with detergent to thoroughly clean the pipe.

Finish it off

Now that we’re done with all the steps add a few gallons of hot water to finalize the cleaning process. Your sink is as good as new and prepared to deal with whatever comes ahead, dirt or grease!

Take Expert Help

Although dealing with a dirty, clogged drain is not extremely hard, a lot us often struggle with it. Also, sometimes things require replacements or extremely technical repairs that are beyond our skillset.

So, you can always contact a drain cleaning contractor to help you with your problem. Most plumbing/drain cleaning services are very robust as well as affordable, so they won’t cut a hole in your pocket.

Precautions

Now that we’ve discussed the ways to deal with clogs, here are a few tips that you can follow to prevent clogs and dirt from accumulating in your sink. These include:

• Always clean your sink after washing dishes, don’t let the dirt and grease accumulate here and there in the sink.
• Always use a drain screen or a protective filter to filter out things too big for your sink. There are a lot of filters available, but go for one that fits your sink perfectly, and the holes are correctly sized enough to let everything pass while holding the big stuff.
• When you’re cleaning greasy dishes, clean it up with a paper towel and discard the towel first before washing it in the sink. This will prevent any excess greasy residue from forming inside your sink.
• Pour a pot of boiling water every once a while, preferable once every week to wash away any moulds or grease forming in your sink. Also, leave some detergent and lemon peels in the sink after every time you clean your sink to prevent the odour from forming.

Conclusion

Dealing with dirty sinks isn’t always an entertaining thing to do. The moulds are dirty, and the smell is unbearable. However, a bit of effort paired with some precautions, and you’re good to go.

In this article, we’ve discussed the ins-and-outs of cleaning a dirty sink. It’s technicalities and how to prevent them from happening frequently. We hope you find them useful.