Home Remedy For Clogged Drain With Standing Water

How To Unclog A Sink With Standing Water: 4 Easy Home Remedies

Theres nothing worse than a clogged drain in the bathroom or kitchen two of the most used rooms in the home. While clogs may not immediately seem like significant plumbing problems, their repair costs can quickly add up if youre not careful. As a homeowner, you should try to handle any plumbing issue small or large in a timely fashion. If you ignore maintenance and repairs for a clogged drain with standing water, you risk a significant leak somewhere in the piping system. A leak could cause extensive structural damage and saddle you with even more expensive repairs.

Although many stores sell chemical cleaners that may remove a clog from any drain in your home, these products can be incredibly hard on your plumbing system. Use such chemicals too often, and youll notice the pipes wearing down, and perhaps even sprouting leaks at all ends. You may even find a larger clog. Whenever possible, you want to invest in professional plumbing services. However, if you want to try some maintenance on your own, there are several home remedies that could solve your problem without breaking the bank!

Cream Of Tartar Salt And Baking Soda

Cream of tartar, a dry, powdery ingredient used in baked goods, is an unusual, yet effective home remedy for a drain blockage. It can’t clean clogs alone, however. One-eighth of it should be mixed with ½ cup each of salt and baking soda. The salt and baking soda loosen up clogbuildup and eliminate smells in drains while the cream of tartar cleans the metal pipe structure.

Baking Soda And Friends

Sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate are both great for cutting grease. On top of being fantastic drain cleaners, they are great everything cleaners. You can use either for preventing a smelly fridge, doing laundry, or scrubbing anything shiny, squeaky clean. If your drain is a bit smelly, baking soda is the first thing you’ll want to use to cut that odor.

Three different soda mixtures are worth trying when it comes to removing a clog.

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Baking Soda Vinegar Salt And Boiling Water

All online articles mention some of these four ingredients as part of a home remedy for clogged drains. These household powerhouses are safe for pipes in both the kitchen and bathroom. Consider these items the liquid drain cleaner without the harsh chemicals, and use the home remedy to prevent drain clogs once a week.

Professional Drain Cleaning Services

If youve tried all the above do-it-yourself remedies and the clog remains steadfast, it may be time to call a professional drain cleaning service. We here at General Plumbing have seen it all from a tub filled with water to an overflowing sink. Our experienced technicians are prepared to provide quality drain cleaning services to homeowners and business owners alike.

If home remedies dont suffice, well use industrial-strength cleaning products, cable drain cleaners, and high-pressure water jets to break down the clog once and for all. Furthermore, if you give us a call and schedule service, we promise to come on time and prepared to handle the problem.

Contact Us

If you have a persistent clog that just wont go away, contact General Plumbing by calling 771-0086. Were happy to schedule prompt service to remove your pesky clog and ensure that your plumbing system functions as intended. Furthermore, well offer professional advice to help prevent any future clogs!

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Make Prevention A Priority

Sink drain clogs are a normal occurrence, but there are some ways you can prevent them. If you have a kitchen garbage disposal, dont overload it. Feed items in a little at a time, and wait until they grind and run through completely before adding more. Make sure you use garbage disposal cleaning tipsto keep the appliance working properly.

Dont ever put bacon grease, coffee grounds, or oils down your kitchen drain or inyour garbage disposal. Also, always make sure you run plenty of water down the drain after each use.

Its important to know how to maintain and care for all of your home’s plumbing componentsand systems to keep things running smoothly.

Kitchen Uses For Baking Soda

10 Useful Baking Soda Solutions

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Pour 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup salt and 2 tablespoons cream of tartar in a jar that seals. Close jar, and shake to combine ingredients. Pour half the jars contents down drain, and save the other half for later. Follow the solution with a pot of boiling water. Let drain sit for one hour. Then, run tap water to rinse any remaining solution down.

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Pouring Boiling Hot Water Down The Drain

When you come across slow drainage in your bathroom or kitchen, the first thing that comes to your mind is how to unblock this clogged drain. Well, sometimes the simplest things provide the best remedy, no matter how easy they may seem all you need to do is pour piping hot water.

The boiling water works great against a clogged drain in the sink. But its the most effective when the clog is made of organic matter and not plastic-based gunk. Also, the water should be boiling otherwise, it wont dissolve any organic matter stuck in the sink.

However, dont pour boiling water down the clogged drain pipe when you have PVC pipes. As the heat from the water could lose the joints, it could result in a more significant issue than just a clogged drain. On the contrary, no need to worry when you have metal pipes. Also, never pour hot water into a porcelain sink bowl you might end up with a cracked sink.

Trying Baking Soda And Vinegar

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Pour Some Hot Water Down The Drain

Hot water can be your best friend when it comes to removing a clog, especially if grease buildup caused that beast.

How to make hot water :

The water should be hot before you pour it down the drain. Cold water will just further harden any grease. This can be a tough ticket if it takes a while for hot water to come out of your tap because you don’t want any of the cold or lukewarm water sitting on top of the clog.

You could take the largest stock pot you have and place it under the tap as it warms up, dumping it down another drain until you’ve got hot water.

However, a great alternative is to heat a stockpot of water on the stove. Dump the hot water down the drain so that it can melt away some of that grime and any hardened grease that may be down there. If this method appears to work for the clog, continue doing this until you’ve got the drain cleared!

Pepsi and Coca-Cola are both great for clearing drains.

Sean Loyless, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

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Nothing throws your daily routine off worse than discovering a blocked sink drain in your home. From water slowly trickling down the drain, to a full and complete stoppage, a clogged drain can lead to stagnant water, unpleasant odors, and a general frustration anytime you use your sink.

Its important to note that the best way to get rid of clogs is to avoid draining them. Think of your sink like your home in general. If you take the effort to, say, wash your windows regularly, youll probably save yourself the effort and cost of replacing those windows when that accumulated grime causes damage.

The same goes for your sink. If you dont take basic precautions, like using a drain-grate or making sure not to pour grease or coffee grounds down your drain, youll prevent clogs and the risk of more serious damage to your plumbing that can cost you more in the long-run. Also if you are interested, here you may check jobs for plumber helper.

One way this damage can present itself is the use of harmful chemicals to unclog drains. Most households, when facing the challenge of a clogged sink tend to reach for the nearest chemical drain cleaner. While this might resolve your issue, these cleaners can also produce toxic fumes and can actually cause physical damage to your water pipes.

Thankfully, if you do encounter a clogged sink, there are several home remedies that can help take care of your problem, and get your sink running smoothly once again, without causing permanent damage.

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Here Are Several Ways Of Clearing A Drain Clog Without Toxic Chemicals:

1. Dish Soap and Hot Water

Boil about two liters of water and mix in a few tablespoons of liquid dish soap. Take this mixture and slowly pour down the sink.

This method may take a few tries, but it will work great on grease clogs because it is heating the grease back to a liquid so it can travel all the way out of the pipe.

2. Wire Coat Hanger

Straighten the hanger out but leave the hook. Make sure you have a grocery bag or something to discard your findings.

Use the hook end of the hanger to fish in the drain and pull up any food or hair buildup that is clogging the passageway in the pipe. After removing as much as you possibly can, run hot water down the sink.

3. Baking Soda & Vinegar

Clear the area around your sink and put a 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain. Follow that with a 1/2 cup of vinegar. Now plug your drain and let it sit for an hour.

Then, unplug the drain and pour a pot of boiling water down it. Continue pouring boiling water down the drain until it is clear.

4. Salt, Borax, and Vinegar

Start with 1/4 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of Borax, and then a 1/2 cup of vinegar. Add a pot of boiling water and let it sit for at least an hour or until it clears.

Finally, rinse with hot tap water to clear all ingredients down the drain.

5. Baking Soda & Salt

Mix salt and baking soda together. About a 1/2 cup of each and pour down the drain. Let it sit for a minimum of a half hour or as long as overnight. Once it has a significant time, clear it with a pot of boiling water.

Why Use A Home Remedy For Clogged Drain

When it comes to cleaning clogged drains, natural products are safer than most chemical-based cleaners, which contain sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide.

As we said, these jarring drain cleaning chemicals eat away the pipework over time. By eroding your plumbing, they will cause even more issues in the long run, and not just clogged drains.

Another factor to consider is that drain cleaners with chemicals end up in the local waterways. There, they can easily damage animal and plant habitats. They can kill sensitive species, as well as cause genetic mutations.

In addition, a lot of these products contain chemicals that produce hazardous fumes.

Commercial drain cleaners are more expensive, too. Using a costly chemical drain cleaner that will damage your pipes and pollute waterways doesnt seem like the best decision, does it?

Home remedies and homemade cleaners are safer, cost-effective, and can be created out of items you already have at home like baking soda and hot water. By opting for these instead of commercial products, you will protect the environment as well as clean your clogged drains. Its a win-win-win situation!

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Posted June 1, 2017

Sometimes a clogged bathroom sink requires more than the old school plunger or a dose of Drano. In fact, were going to teach you ways to unclog your drain.

Bathroom sinks can be tricky as hair, soap scum, toothpaste and other grooming chemicals can form a nearly impenetrable clog. But before you call out a plumber, there are a number of alternative methods of unclogging that are extremely easy and, best of all, inexpensive.

Baking Soda And Vinegar

Vinegar mixed with baking soda creates a chemical reaction that loosens stubborn clogs, making it easier for hot water to flush it down the drain. The best types of vinegar to use are cleaning vinegar and white vinegar because they both have the most acidity. Use this solution for large and tough clogs.

Heres how to use this DIY remedy:

Check out this great YouTube video:

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How To Unclog A Bathtub Drain With Standing Water

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Getting stuck with a clogged bathtub drain is definitely one of the most annoying things that can happen inside your bathroom. It gets worse when you have a lot of standing water inside the tub.

This makes it really hard to unclog it since you cant approach the drain easily.

However, there are ways to unclog a bathtub drain with standing water inside it. All, you need to do is to have a couple of things by your side and you will be good to go.

So, lets see what exactly you need to do in order to unclog a bathtub drain that has a lot of standing water inside it.

Dish Soap & Hot Water

Take two liters of water and boil it in a pot. Mix in a few tablespoons of dish soap into the water. Lastly, slowly pour the mixture down the sink or drain. This may take a few tries to work.

Note: Hot water works best on clogs caused by grease, fast, oil, and organic matter. It doesnt do so well on clogs caused by hair or other substances. Avoid using this method if you have PVC pipes or porcelain sink bowls.

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Plunge Away The Blockage

Once you establish that the disposal isn’t the problem, it’s time to bring out the plunger. But keep in mind: While you can use the toilet plunger if it’s all you have on hand, Dengarden suggested using a flat-bottomed one for the job. With your plunger at the ready, follow these steps:

• Fill the sink with hot water until it’s about halfway full and creates a seal around the drain.
• Position the plunger over the drain and begin pumping up and down quickly several times.
• Remove the plunger and wait to see if the water drains.
• Repeat the process until the water drains freely.

If the sink still isn’t draining properly after multiple plunging attempts, you know the drill. Time to try a different method.

What To Try First

Before you call the plumber, check if its not something you can fix yourself. Here are a few quick tips you can try to unclog the drain, before calling a professional.

• Boiling water. The easiest thing you can do is pour boiling water in the drain and let it break down the blockage. If the water doesnt drain and just sits in one place, then your problem is more complicated than you think and youll need to do something else.
• Waste disposal unit. If you have a waste disposal unit, run it and see if the clog clears up. Check if its running correctly. Maybe, this caused the problem the whole time.
• Homemade solution. You can buy a product from the local supermarket to pour in the drain but bear in mind that all of them are made from the same things you have in your kitchen mainly salt, baking soda, and the like. You can buy one of those products or you can try making one yourself. Heres how to do it:

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