Comments on How to Unclog a Sink

I tried Liquid Plummer regular and gel with hot water flushing without success. I finally googled and found this site. I saw two suggestions about using a hairdryer - it worked in two minutes. Just heat up the u bend for a couple of minutes and if it's any sort of grease, you should be set. Good luck.

I tried the baking soda, vinegar combo overnite for my clogged double kitchen sink. It did not work. Called my dad (not a plumber...with teamwork, he was able to plunge the sink. We first filled the sink with a couple inches of water, I heald wet rags over one drain and he used the plunger on the garbage disposal side. Within minutes....my DAD solved my 12 hour nightmare!!!!!

I tried the baking soda, vinegar combo overnite for my clogged double kitchen sink. It did not work. Called my dad (not a plumber...with teamwork, he was able to plunge the sink. We first filled the sink with a couple inches of water, I heald wet rags over one drain and he used the plunger on the garbage disposal side. Within minutes....my DAD solved my 12 hour nightmare!!!!!

I have 2 teenagers so enough said. I have vinegar but no baking soda on hand, but I had dry Drano so I used hot water with it and it worked! (I first tried Drano's directions using cold water and it did not work.) Thanks ohneclue's!!!!!

I have 2 teenagers so enough said. I have vinegar but no baking soda on hand, but I had dry Drano so I used hot water with it and it worked! (I first tried Drano's directions using cold water and it did not work.) Thanks ohneclue's!!!!!

I tried the Vinegar, Baking Soda and Hot Water combination ... Unfortunately, it didn't work. Any other proven ideas - outside of call a plumber?

I tried the Vinegar, Baking Soda and Hot Water combination ... Unfortunately, it didn't work. Any other proven ideas - outside of call a plumber?

Vinegar and Baking Soda didn't work for me. Any ideas outside of calling a plumber? I've got two sinks - one is a garbage disposal.

Vinegar and Baking Soda didn't work for me. Any ideas outside of calling a plumber? I've got two sinks - one is a garbage disposal.

I'll have to admit -- the baking soda and vinegar recipe did the trick. We figured it was worth a try, and at the very least it wouldn't cause harmful fumes.

Sorry to burst all the chemical "bubbles" on this but when you have hair and/or a fat clogging your drain, VINEGAR is a complete waste of a good salad ingredient, period. Any chemical action that creates heat (Oxyclean, bicarb of soda with vinegar, hot/boiling water) will unclog a drain BUT not because of the chemicals used but the heat produced by the chemical interaction. (Don't you wish you'd have paid more attention in chemistry?) Sodium is a very volatile element. That's why it is used as a chemical activity helper in lots of commercial product production procedures. The best thing to put into the fat clog is something that will chemically change it so it cannot resolidify -- and this process is called "saponification" as in turning the fat into a soap. Then it will flow right on down the sewer. First, remove any standing water. Syphon it into a bucket or whatever container is handy. Then proceed to the following. Put a little lye (powdered or dry Drano, not the liquid Plumber types) into the sink followed by a cup of very hot water. It can be boiling if you insist but the temp is not the key to the success of the procedure. The chemical change of the fat is the critical part of the equation or chemical reaction. Let this stuff just set in the drain (usually the U joint is where it collects) and WORK. Go take a walk, go do your exercise program, go watch a marathon soap session, etc., but STOP watching it and/or timing it. Do it at night before you go to bed so you can't obsess over the clog. This will also dissolve hair clogs as in break apart the bonds that keep the hair in a strand. If you don't believe me, talk to a beautician who is familiar with how perms work to "curl" your hair OR how straighteners work to "uncurl" your hair. It used to be sodium hydroxide based (read LYE) but now they have softer to the skin type chemicals to do the same thing. Anytime you have a chemical burn on skin from a high pH or strong base (sodium or potassium hydroxide) use dilute vinegar (acid) to offset the burning effects of the high pH base. Any beauty salon that works on ethnic curly hair and does straightening procedures, needs to have vinegar in their first aid kit for this very purpose. Doesn't matter what source -- apple cider or distilled -- they are equally effective because what you want to accomplish is to change the basic pH of the skin (14) to a neutral pH (7) to stop the chemical burn. Best way to stop a clogged sink -- STOP putting fats down there even through your disposal. STOP expecting your disposal to act like a pig eating slop. Don't put potato skins down there and expect a miracle. Add them to a compost pile and let them turn into good fertilizer for your garden or potted plants. Don't want to do that? Go ahead and put them directly into your garbage so they can go to a land fill and NOT down the disposal or drain to screw up the plumbing. Your plumber may not like this advice but so what -- tell him/her you have your own kids to put through college so you need to save your own money. Oh, the suggestion about not using bleach is excellent!!!! Bleach has NOTHING to do with breaking up a sink clog, period. And, as someone else pointed out, don’t EVER mix bleach and a product containing ammonia – POISON!!!!! That includes scouring powders you may use on your sink followed by or used with a bleach chaser. The suggestion about the hair dryer is great because ANYTHING that softens or melts the fat will work very well. Or, just remove the U section and clean it out when it's not in the plumbing line. You can put it in a pan of really hot water (doesn't have to be boiling) and some dishwashing detergent or even better, some dishwasher dry powder added and let it clean itself. Then, reconnect and you're done.

Here I am at 3:36 a.m. all clogged up. My husband is letting our 31 year old handle it while he supervises in intervals. Since my husband has a day job he went to bed around midnite leaving "Ronnie" to keep working on the clog. Now this has been going on for about a week mind you so at this point he thinks himself to be an "expert" where I being just a "woman" know nothing. I did note however that he had too much twist in the snake. I commented that he should stop and let it unwind. Since there was no response, I repeated and added an example using when a phone cord needs to be unwound. To that he snapped "I know what I'm doing". That's when I started looking online for advice and education. Around 10-15 mins later I heard a noise and some choice words stated loudly, I don't know what happened but He chose to leave it for later and went to bed. Anyhoo I found this sight, didn't have vineger/bk.soda. But I do have the extra large economy tub of "Oxyclean" added it and am ready for my 2nd 212*H2O pour and it seems to be working. I am in hopes that in 45 mins when hubby gets up all will be clear and flowing. sorry to vent but I am only a "woman" lol. thanks for the tip. I am going to get some vngr & soda as it is le$$ and probably does the same job (foams). p.s. Since the thought of it going into the drain was bothersome, what, exactly, did Cajoy20 do with the water that had all of the nasty gunk in it?

Here I am at 3:36 a.m. all clogged up. My husband is letting our 31 year old handle it while he supervises in intervals. Since my husband has a day job he went to bed around midnite leaving "Ronnie" to keep working on the clog. Now this has been going on for about a week mind you so at this point he thinks himself to be an "expert" where I being just a "woman" know nothing. I did note however that he had too much twist in the snake. I commented that he should stop and let it unwind. Since there was no response, I repeated and added an example using when a phone cord needs to be unwound. To that he snapped "I know what I'm doing". That's when I started looking online for advice and education. Around 10-15 mins later I heard a noise and some choice words stated loudly, I don't know what happened but He chose to leave it for later and went to bed. Anyhoo I found this sight, didn't have vineger/bk.soda. But I do have the extra large economy tub of "Oxyclean" added it and am ready for my 2nd 212*H2O pour and it seems to be working. I am in hopes that in 45 mins when hubby gets up all will be clear and flowing. sorry to vent but I am only a "woman" lol. thanks for the tip. I am going to get some vngr & soda as it is le$$ and probably does the same job (foams). p.s. Since the thought of it going into the drain was bothersome, what, exactly, did Cajoy20 do with the water that had all of the nasty gunk in it?

I don't know how the baking soda+vinegar+boiling water works ... but for about $2.50 I cleared my drain!! I will do this routine about once a month to keep it clean. Thanks from Texas!!

My kitchen sink only clogs/stops up on week-ends and holidays! I read the comments here - put 1 cup baking soda then one cup vinegar then another cup vinegar followed by a pot of boiling water...on the disposal side first. Then did it on the other side. Not only did it clear the drain MAGNIFICENTLY but my stainless steel sink looks like new!!! Total Cost: about $2.50 Thank you to everyone from Texas!

I had heard about Oxyclean but did not remember the specific instructions for use--they are not on the package. Unfortunately, I could not remove the stopper, to get to the clog but I did pack in the Oxyclean around it and added 3 teapots of water at different intervals. Because I just hated the idea of all that nasty gunk going back down the drain, I dipped out some water. The majority, however, went down. All of this took a little time but the drain cleared, the pipes are in tact, and I suffered no chemical burns!

I had heard about Oxyclean but did not remember the specific instructions for use--they are not on the package. Unfortunately, I could not remove the stopper, to get to the clog but I did pack in the Oxyclean around it and added 3 teapots of water at different intervals. Because I just hated the idea of all that nasty gunk going back down the drain, I dipped out some water. The majority, however, went down. All of this took a little time but the drain cleared, the pipes are in tact, and I suffered no chemical burns!