Are you having trouble with your drains lately? Are you trying to flush dirt, but your pipes are resisting? Don’t be too stressed; this is normal. The drain’s purpose is to flush unnecessary elements you want to wash, and they sometimes don’t function the way they must because they are clogged.
The good news is that you can handle it without spending a fortune. On this page, you will learn the easiest and the handiest way to solve your problem, and if you follow them very well, you can finally have it clogged-free.
How to Clean a Drain
You cannot limit the problem with the drains in your kitchen sink only because clogged gutters can also happen in the bathroom. Typically, dirty drains can occur in any place of the house that has a drainage system. Below, we collected the simple ways to clean you can generally deal with clogged drains.
Method 1: Eliminate All Possible Waste that May Clog Your Drain
Slow drainage is perhaps the most visible and aggravating symptom of congested drainage. It inefficiently uses up space in your home and wastes time, especially when you want to use the sink or tub but must wait for the water to drain. Drainage takes longer than usual because the water has difficulty moving through the pipes. The water may even begin to run back up, resulting in most of the previously described adverse effects of clogged drainage on your household and health, such as an unpleasant odor, wetness, and mold and bacteria growth.
A buildup of any kind in the drain can slow the draining of waste in your pipes. Therefore, it is essential to remove them. You are lucky if the buildup is still handy to pull like a hairball or vegetable peel, but for nasty advertisements, you may try using tools you can find in the store, like a plunger or a plumber’s snake.
Method 2: Unclogged the Drain Using Boiling Water and Baking Soda
Clogged drains prevent water from flowing and cause it to accumulate in the pipes. Over time, the stagnant water creates foul odors, making your property uninhabitable. It may also happen when debris and dirt become large enough to prevent water from flowing through the pipes. If you let this sit for a long time, the lines will dry up, so there is no water to absorb the odors from food and other wastes.
Awful odors will soon invade your home and interrupt your relaxing moments. No one likes foul smells, and they can also trigger headaches, irritation, fatigue, and anxiety in certain people. So, guarding your home against these issues is essential, and you don’t have to worry.
You will not spend much on the second method because you can pull out some old cleaning partners and a little patience. Once your drain is clean of debris, it’s time to clean it out and get rid of the stinky odors that are invading your home. There are a few simple ways to pick from:
Baking Soda and Vinegar + Boiling Water
Step 1: Pour one-half cup of baking soda, followed by 1/2 cup vinegar, down the drain.
Step 2: Plug the drain and let it sit for one hour.
Step 3: Pour a pot of boiling water down the drain. Repeat if necessary.
No wonder this method will work; it is a must-try do-it-yourself home remedy for savvy homeowners like you. Now, if your concern is eliminating the foul odor and putting up something good to smell, you can try the combination below.
Baking Soda and Lemon Juice + Boiling Water
Step 1: Pour half a cup of baking soda and half a cup of lemon juice down the drain.
Step 2: Now, plug the drain and let it sit for one hour.
Step 3: Finish the method by pouring a pot of boiling water down the drain. Again, you can repeat the process if the results look more pushful.
If the solutions above did only a little work because the blockage in your drain has gone hard, maybe you need more than vinegar and lemon juice. Hang on; you don’t need to dial the plumber this early because we still have another DIY to try. I need your patience to accomplish this other method and see the results in three easy steps. Again, you will need some old-time cleaning partners to help you out. Read the combinations below and look at what suits your needs and the availability of products.
Baking Soda and Salt + Boiling Water
Ideally, the salt will help you scrape the drain buildup and the baking soda’s power. Therefore, salt will be more acceptable in massive particles or rock forms. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Mix 1/2 cup table salt and 1/2 cup baking soda and pour down the drain.
Step 2: Let it sit for about 30 minutes (or overnight if it’s a tough clog).
Step 3: Pour a pot of boiling water after 30 minutes or after the mixture has sat overnight.
Baking Soda + Salt + Cream of Tartar + Boiling Water
While baking soda and salt work together to help scour pipes and break up buildup, the cream of tartar naturally clears metals down the drain. So, if you know that a lot of metal is involved in the advertisement down the gutters, you may consider adding a Cream of Tartar to the solution mixture.
Step 1: Pour half a cup of baking soda, half a cup of salt, and two tablespoons of cream of tartar into a sealed jar.
Step 2: Close the jar and shake to combine ingredients. Pour half the jar’s contents down the drain and save the other half for later use.
Step 3: Follow this solution with a pot of boiling water. Let it drain for one hour. Then rinse any remaining solution down with tap water.
Salt + Borax + Vinegar
Initially, salt and baking soda might have already done something noticeable as a solution to clean your clogged drain, but if you want to escalate the effect, you can mix Borax in the solution. Again, lean to this method if you have something available at home. You can buy from the store, but it defeats our purpose of going DIY and saving money. Here is how to do this solution:
Step 1: Pour 1/4 cup salt and 1/4 cup Borax down. Drain. Then, pour 1/2 cup vinegar down.
Step 2: Finish with a pot of boiling water. Let it sit for one hour or until it clears.
Step 3: Run hot tap water to rinse any remaining solution down.
There you have it! Those are the handful of DIY solutions that may save your pocket and improve your brilliant household skills. These solutions are not for substantial pipe problems but for simple drain cleaning. You will always know when to call the plumber without trying all these solutions and finding that they won’t work for you.
You know it’s time to call professional help when your brain smells bad after being clogged for weeks. But to prevent future dismay, you can do this by remaining informed on how such problems arise.
Below is an explanation of how your drains clogged instantly.
What Causes the Problem in the Drains
Blocked drains may be a significant annoyance and a source of frustration. Yet, our primary responsibility is to keep our bathroom and kitchen drains clean. Because we use them daily, they frequently become nasty. Unblocking blocked drains may be costly and time-consuming if they are not recognized and kept clean at the onset.
To prevent drains from being clogged, frequent drainage checks are needed. Ideally, you should call a plumber regularly. Though you will incur some charges at first, this will undoubtedly save you from large expenditures in the future. Yet, if you want to keep your pockets from spending, you have to watch what goes into your drains, as they can cause problems in the future.
Common Causes
So, what are the common causes of problems with your drains?
Hair
Hair is a significant cause of drain clogs because it can combine with grease and other sticky things to form clogs. The most straightforward strategy to manage hair blockages is to avoid them in the first place. Yes, we cannot control how much hair we shed during a bath, but installing filters or hair guards will ensure a clean, clogged-free drain. However, installing them doesn’t guarantee you won’t clean anymore because you still have to clean them regularly. This filter will save you from a more significant problem; let’s assume that you don’t want to suck all that’s in the pipe below once it is clogged, right?
Soap
Don’t be surprised if you see soap on this list. You might miss that typical soap bars contain grease or fat. The fat reacts with the minerals in the water, forming a hard deposit (known as soap scum) that discolors bath fixtures and clogs pipes. People commonly advise switching to soap-free washing, but if you are like me and want to keep using soap because it is already a staple, just let your pipes pressure be cleaned once in a while to eliminate any remaining soap accumulation.
Excess Dirt
You may believe that your drain and pipes are there to wash things away. However, while you want to remove excess dirt from yourself, it can accumulate and cause problems in your drains. You should throw away the excess soil, mud, tissue paper, and food waste before rinsing off in the gutters. Even if you have a dispenser in your sink, you should never dispose of food waste down the drain.
Disposing of trash, especially plastic, is not advised in the gutter. Instead, create a composting pile. This is especially crucial for non-biodegradable garbage such as tea bags and coffee grounds. But doing this will save you from a massive problem in the future.
Health Risk from Dirty and Clogged Drains
You cannot underestimate clogged drains, for they can have several adverse effects on your health and the health of your loved ones. For starters, they promote the growth of bacteria, which causes allergies and diseases. The drain blockage prevents water from flowing, resulting in a flow back. At this point, you will notice slow water drainage in your sinks, which may even become stagnant. This water contains bacteria; the longer you use the sink, the more viruses and infections you risk.
The bacteria spread through the water and air in your home, worsening the condition if you or a family member suffers from allergies. The contaminated water and air irritate skin conditions such as eczema and those suffering from hay fever and asthma.
Once the tainted water stays stagnant in the pipes, it harms your health. It is because stagnant water promotes the growth of Legionella and other germs. The bacteria are responsible for legionnaires’ disorders like coughing, chest pain, and difficulty breathing.
Helicobacter is another type of bacteria found in drainage systems. When sensitive to it, you are at significant risk of getting peptic ulcers marked by lesions on the stomach lining.
Your children are more vulnerable to these ailments, and it is advisable to prevent these concerns early rather than be sorry later when the damage has already intensified.
On a Note
One of the simplest methods to minimize clogged drainage and its negative consequences on your house and health is to be vigilant about what you put into your sinks, toilets, bathtubs, and drainpipes. Take care when washing your hair, cleaning utensils, and disposing of kitchen waste. Make sure that only water enters the drain. Schedule regular drainage inspections. Although you may do it yourself, you should bring in plumbing experts like Victory Plumbing now and again for a professional and complete checkup.
