How to Retrieve a Small Item From a Washbasin Sink Drain

This is a trick using a wet/dry vacuum cleaner with pantyhose over the hosepipe to retrieve something of value that has gone down the washbasin sink drain. It will only apply to items that are small enough (and light enough) to come back up through the plug hole. But if that was the way it went down, then you should be able to retrieve it using this foolproof method. Rings, earrings and even small gold chains can be retrieved in this way.

Things You'll Need

• Wet/dry vacuum cleaner
• Pantyhose
• Small rubber bands

Instructions

Getting the Vacuum Cleaner Ready

1. 

   You will need to have the broad circular pipe (2.5 inches internal diameter), which is on most wet/dry vacuum cleaners, ready to place in the washbasin sink over the plug hole. Using an attachment will probably be harder since you need all the width of this large unmodified suction hole to do the job. Plug in the vacuum cleaner close to the sink.

2. 

   Take the pantyhose and wrap it, doubled-up, over the end of the hose. This allows air to pass through it and back into the vacuum, trapping any solid object against the pantyhose. (Obviously, no solid objects will pass through the pantyhose and into the pipe. With only one layer of pantyhose, it is possible for a sharp edge of a ring or similar object to rip the pantyhose and be sucked back into the vacuum cleaner.) You might want to get a small rubber band and place it around the pantyhose to secure it to the end of the pipe coming from the machine. Then, when you are maneuvering around in the washbasin sink, you can focus completely on where you want to aim the hose without having to worry about the pantyhose coming away from the nozzle.

3. 

   Remove any drain plug that might obstruct a clear passage down into the washbasin sink drain. You just need to push the drain-release lever down and pull the plug out. If the washbasin is old, there might just be a rubber plug in there. Take that out and place it on the outside of the washbasin and out of the way.

4. 

   Bring the end of the pipe covered with pantyhose into the washbasin sink. Turn the vacuum on. Once there is suction through the pipe, place the pipe on the plughole.

5. 

   If the object is still in the pipe, it will be sucked up through the drain opening, remaining in the suction stream and attached to the pantyhose until you turn the vacuum off. Do not turn the vacuum off yet! With your precious ring, earring or whatever got lost in the drain attached to the pantyhose by the suction of the vacuum, bring the pipe out of the sink now. Bring the end of the pipe to a table or wherever you want to drop the item and turn off the vacuum. The item you have retrieved will just drop onto this area.

Tips & Warnings

• A Shop-Vac brand wet/dry vacuum cleaner is designed for water and has tremendous suction in situations where water is present, so this is an obvious choice for this type of job. It is important for the hose to have at least a 2.5-inch inside diameter, as you will find in Shop-Vac models that are larger than 14 gallons. You can purchase attachments to a standard 1.25-inch hose, but it is probably better to purchase a unit that is reliable and hard-wearing. There are other brands of vacuum cleaners that can do a better job on other work, including the Craftsman. Nevertheless, the top-of-the-range High Performance Craftsman comes in at $218, whereas you can buy a top-of-the-range Shop-Vac like the Shop-Vac 962-12-00 5HP 12 Gallon Quiet Ultra Pro Vacuum for just over $100. Both Craftsman wet/dry vacuums are 16 gallons and the largest Shop-Vac is 12 gallons. For this job, you won't need the capacity, but you will need the ability to apply great suction through the hosepipe to reverse the force of gravity on a heavy piece of jewelery.

• Water and electricity do not mix, so be careful how you connect the Shop-Vac. Also, it might blow a ground-fault outlet since it might not be rated for that kind of connection. You might need to plug it in outside the bathroom. The ground-fault outlet will need to be reset to get all the other ground-fault outlets on the same circuit back on again!

References

• Shop-Vac Home Page