While having running water and reliable plumbing is a luxury that not everyone in this world enjoys, dealing with issues with the plumbing in your home can be a headache. Especially if you don’t have experience working with plumbing and don’t really understand these fixtures, you might feel like your only recourse for plumbing issues is to call in a professional in plumbing.
And while this might be necessary sometimes, for smaller issues like a blocked drain, it could be worth your while to try to get things moving yourself before calling in help.
To help you see how this can be done, here are three tips for fixing blocked drains in your kitchen or bathroom.
Try A Plunger First
For most people, a plunger is something that they instantly think of using on a clogged toilet. But if you’re dealing with a blocked drain in the kitchen or bathroom, you can use a plunger in these instances, too.
Ideally, you should try to find a plunger for the sinks and drains that’s smaller than your typical toilet plunger. But once you have it, you can use the plunger to essentially suction out whatever is clogging up your drain. Try doing the plunger motion for about 30 seconds before you release the suction. This should give the clog enough force and time to get dislodged and, hopefully, start moving so that your drain is no longer blocked.
Make Your Own Drain-Clearing Product
Although there are commercial drain-clearing products on the market, these products can cause a lot of harm to the pipes in your home and the environment in which you live. So instead of buying a product like this to use on clogs in your drains, you should try to make your own natural drain-clearing product first.
With just a few simple ingredients, like vinegar, salt, and baking soda, you can create a solution that is safe to pour down your drains and is effective for clearing clogs. The bubbling and corrosive properties of these ingredients can break up clogs and get things moving once more.
Attempt Some Basic Plumbing Work
If none of these less invasive solutions work for the clogs that your drains are experiencing in the bathroom or kitchen, you might need to move on to some more basic plumbing work that basically anyone can safely accomplish.
For most clogs, the blockage is going to take place in the curved piece of pipe that’s under the sink. If you can get down there safely to remove that trap through the piece of pipe, it’s a good bet that you’ll be able to clear the pipe and get water flowing down your sink again.
If you’re having to deal with stubborn sink drains at home, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you learn how to clear them yourself.
