How to Unclog Sinks

Nothing is more frustrating than having bathroom sinks that drain slowly. If this is the case in your house, then there’s a big chance that a clog has already formed on the drain. Clogs are caused by various items that may have passed accidentally through the drain, such as dried toothpaste, excessive hair, bottle caps or even tissue paper. In time, these items could stop up the drains.

Of course, the goal should always be preventing clogs from happening. You can do this by putting screens on your bathroom or kitchen sinks in order to prevent items from passing through. When you remove these screens, things could get lodged in the pipes, which can cause clogs. In order to solve this, you can try these two easy fixes to clear the drain in just a few minutes.

First, try using a drain cleaner. Pick one that is industrial strength to make sure it can get the job done. This is by far the easiest way to unclog drains, although it doesn’t work all the time (depending on the extent of the clog). Just pour the thick liquid and allow it to slowly drain.

The process can take as little as thirty minutes and as long as six hours in order to dissolve the entire clog. Of course, the length of time needed would mainly depend on how severe the clog is and how strong the drain cleaner is. This is the best method for minor clogs since this can be finished quickly and with minimum fuss.

If this doesn’t work, try removing and cleaning the u-trap. The u-trap is connected to the drain pipe that runs to the wall or floor as well as the drain pipe from sinks. It is often a threaded connection to the two pipes which you can easily unscrew on both ends and removed.

Before you do this, put a bucket under the u-trap in order to catch any water remaining. Once you’ve removed the u-trap, you only need to clean it out well using a regular wire coat hanger. Prepare yourself for the foul odour since clogs that are located in the u-trap usually smell really horrible. After cleaning the u-trap, you’ll need to reconnect it to both pipes.

If this doesn’t solve your problem, then it’s time to call a professional plumber. Don’t try to do it yourself – you could end up making more damage that would be harder to repair later on.