Imagine this: it’s Christmas Eve, and your whole family is over for a festive dinner. As you’re preparing your perfect ham and delectable cornbread, you start washing some dishes in your sink.
Then the unthinkable happens. A brown sludge starts coming back up and fills your sink. The only option left is to grab your trusty plunger and try to unclog your kitchen pipes, all while Aunt Judie is complaining about how you’re not using her recipe.
We’ve all had to deal with a clogged pipe. Whether in the kitchen or the bathroom, it’s never a fun time trying to free your pipes.
That’s why we’ve curated this list of simple ways to unclog the most used pipes in your home.
Common Causes for Clogged Pipes
We use our water pipes every day so, naturally, they are bound to become clogged over time. If you can understand and keep track of what’s going in your drain, you can use the proper method to effectively unclog the pipe.
- Bathroom Sink and Bathtub: You probably use these more than any other pipe in your house. Unfortunately, that also means these are some of the easiest to clog. Most commonly, loose hair, toothpaste, and soap scum gather in your pipes and build up over time. After a while, they start to block your pipes, leading to everything in the drain coming back up.
- Toilet: While your toilet was designed to dispose of bodily wastes and toilet paper, many people use it to flush other things too. Namely, toilets are often clogged with paper towels, floss, nail clippings, cotton swabs, the list goes on. When these materials don’t break down in the water, they build up in your pipes, leading to a messy clog.
- Kitchen Sink: Cooking requires a variety of ingredients, spices, and tools. When you need to clean and sanitize anything, you normally wash it in your sink. Unfortunately, not everything should be going down your drain. This can range from grease, stringy veggies, fats, oils, and large food particles. Some people think a garbage disposal is enough to keep your pipes clean, but that rarely covers the larger issue of proper disposal.
How to Easily Unclog Your Pipes
Now that you understand what can be stuck in your pipes, it’s time to get them loose.
Luckily, you don’t have to be a trained plumber to handle most simple clogged pipes. You also shouldn’t use chemical drain cleaners. While they work to break down the materials in your pipes, they will only damage your pipes in the long run.
So what’s left to use? You may be surprised to hear that you probably have the tools in your house right now!
A Plunger
The tried and true unclogging tool. Plungers work best for dislodging food particles or any objects stuck in a curved pipe in your kitchen or bathroom. Simply fill your sink or toilet bowl with water and start plunging away. Make sure to clear some space to avoid anything getting wet. The plunger works to dislodge the items stuck in your pipe, while the water washes them down the drain.
Long Wire Hook
When small objects or clumps of hair are stuck in your bathroom drain, a wire hook can be just the trick.
You can either buy a drain cleaning tool or DIY with a coat hanger. Bend one end into a hook shape, then insert the wire into the drain, pulling it back out and removing whatever comes up with it.
After multiple tries, you should be able to remove most of the blocking debris. Just remember to wear gloves!
Detergent and Hot Water
When your kitchen sink is clogged with grease and fat, all you need is reach for your dish soap. Bring a 2-liter pot of water to a boil while stirring in some tablespoons of liquid dish detergent. Once boiling, pour the mix slowly down your sink drain and flush with hot tap water.
The hot water will melt the grease, while the soap will dissolve the fat.
Do this a couple of times, or as much as needed.
Salt and Hot Water
If your pipes are clogged with grease, fat, and soap clogs, then it’s time to break out the salt. Grab one-half cup of any salt, from table, sea, or kosher, and pour it down the kitchen drain. Next, heat 2 liters of water until it’s boiling. Pour that down the sink, where the hot water will clear the grease and the salt will serve as a natural scouring agent for the soap. This may require a few tries.
Many of these items you already have around your home.
Best of all, these tools and mixes do not damage your pipes like chemical drain cleaners. Keep your pipes lasting longer while saving yourself time and money.
How to Keep Your Pipes From Clogging
Now that your pipes are clean and clear, you’re probably going to want to keep them that way. Luckily, this is easy to do with a few best practices that won’t impact your normal routines.
- Keep FOG Out of the Drain: Fat, Oil, and Grease (FOG) are the most common clogging substances in kitchens. While they can easily go down the drain, these substances cool down and start to stick on your pipes, creating a buildup over time. That’s why you should put these substances in a jar or container until they have solidified, then properly dispose of them in the trash.
- Put Food Wastes in the Trash: When you’re peeling vegetables, cracking eggs, or cleaning dirty dishes, don’t let sizable food substances go down the drain. Onion peels, eggs shells, pasta, and other items can easily clog your drain, even if you have a garbage disposal. It’s always best to throw these items in the trash.
- Buy a Drain Hair Filter: If you find loose hairs are a constant problem, it’s best if you grab a hair filter for your drain. While they won’t prevent 100% of hair from going down the drain, you can stop the larger clumps from blocking your pipes. Plus, they’re relatively cheap and can be found in any home improvement store.
- Regular Hot Water and Salt Flushes: If you want to reduce the inevitable buildup in your kitchen sink, why not reduce the problem before it becomes an emergency? With a monthly flush of hot water and salt, you can get ahead of the grease clogging your pipes.
Richmond, VA Plumbers for Emergency Clogs
If you’ve tried every method here and your pipes are still clogged, you should call a professional before you try to take your pipes apart.
Luckily, Mike Wilson Plumbing is only a phone call away!
Whether your pipes are dangerously clogged, or you need emergency plumbing maintenance, Mike Wilson’s team will be there. Our experienced plumbers service residential and commercial plumbing systems in the greater Richmond area. Contact us today to keep your life flowing smoothly.
Sources: https://brendid.com/how-to-naturally-clean-a-clogged-drain/
https://www.landmarkhw.com/resources/plumbing/ask-a-plumber-the-best-way-to-clean-your-drains/2/6
https://www.wisebread.com/10-really-easy-ways-to-unclog-drains