How to Remove Items From a Sink Drain

Find lost items in the sink trap.

Sooner or later, you will drop something small down your sink drain. The item is not lost forever, because sink drains have a design to catch small objects and prevent them from obstructing your main line. There is a sink trap where you can normally find and remove your item. It is a good idea to clean the sink trap when removing your items since you will have access to the inside of the trap.

Things You'll Need

• Bucket
• Adjustable wrench
• Channel lock pliers

Instructions

1. Set a bucket under the sink trap to catch water that is in the drain pipe. The sink trap is the curved portion of pipe connecting to the wall drain and the sink drain.

2. Look for a square protrusion on the lower front of the sink trap. This is a clean-out plug for the sink trap. Not all sink traps have a clean-out plug. Turn the plug counter-clockwise with an adjustable wrench, if you sink trap has the plug. Remove the item and place the plug back into the sink trap.

3. Loosen the two connecting slip nuts that secure the sink trap to the sink drain and the wall drain pipes with a pair of channel lock pliers, if your sink trap does not have a clean-out plug.

4. Slide the slip nuts away from the connections and pull the sink trap away from the pipes. Remove the items from inside the sink trap.

5. Position the sink trap back between the two pipe connections and thread the slip nuts until they are hand tight. Turn the slip nuts another half turn with the channel lock pliers.

References

• Bob Vila: How To Clean Out Blocked Sinks
• Dummies: How To Remove A Sink Trap