Take the plunger and position it directly over the drain and firmly plunge down and up several times. On your last plunge, use a little extra strength to jerk the plunger upward and out. DON'T use excessive force when plunging a clog. Too much pressure can damage the drain line connection and ruin the trap.
With the flap folded inside the cup, the toilet plunger can also be used on a sink or tub drain. Just be sure to clean it with bleach before switching from toilet bowl plunger to sink plunger.
Surprisingly, snaking your main line can potentially make the clog worse. The snake could pack the clog in even tighter, meaning your plumber may have to remove that section of the pipe.
In general, the best plunger for a sink will have a flat-bottomed rubber cup and a short handle, but your needs may vary. If possible, keep different types of plungers on hand for different uses.
A stopped-up drain. It'll inevitably happen with any home plumbing system and your kitchen sink is no exception. That clog won't go away on its own and will require immediate attention to keep any standing water from rising.
Amateurs will mistakenly apply way too much force. The damage to the protective zinc can lead to significant rusting and cracking, which may lead to serious flooding in the future. The drain snake can break off pieces of metal that can add more damage. Flooding can result if pipes break during snaking.
Can the sink unclog itself? This happens with toilets at times - a paper clog may eliminate itself by dissolving. It is much less likely with a sink (no paper). Usual causes are hair and organics and minerals from dirt.
Attempting to force a clog through a toilet with a plunger can often make the problem worse. Instead, create a seal and slowly push down on the plunger before pulling it back sharply. The suction can help pull the clog back up toward the bowl, breaking the blockage and allowing gravity to take over.
A drain auger is a better choice, but the wire hanger will work in a pinch.
A manual drain snake, also known as a plumber's snake or a drain auger, is a small boring tool that rotates slowly as it's physically pushed through a stubborn clog. The terminal end of the device is a corkscrew-shaped hook that is fed into a clogged drain or toilet.
Unclog Pipes Before They Crack or Burst
But did you know that a clogged drain can cause a pipe to burst as well? Leaving a clog unattended can lead to increased pressure inside pipes, which can then crack or burst. This is a messy and often expensive problem that can cause significant damage to your plumbing and home.
If there's significant blockage in your pipes, then the water backs up. It's only a matter of time before that backed up water becomes a problem. Without addressing the problem of a clogged drain, flooding is bound to happen.
Clean the P-trap. If the water is still not draining correctly, there might be a blockage in the P-trap, aka the elbow-shaped pipe under your sink. Food, grease and other debris may be stuck in the pipe, causing your sink to drain slowly or not at all because the water hits a snag on its way down.
What to do when snaking a drain doesn't work. Clean the drain snake. If you haven't cleaned it since using it last, the old clog may still be embedded on the corkscrew end. You must clean this end for it to be effective.
Using a snake is also more invasive and time-consuming than using a chemical cleaner is, and can often become a dirty job. When it comes to getting at and removing major clogs or clogs that are deep down in your pipes, however, a plumber's snake is your best bet.
A hand crank enables a flexible cable to descend into your toilet and break up an obstruction. While billed as devices that are easy to use by anyone and everyone, drain snakes can be hard to manage, and if used improperly, can damage pipes.
Most people don't think about their drain maintenance until there's a major issue. Don't be one of these people: your best bet is to give your drains regular cleaning once a week.
When you are using a baking soda and vinegar solution to clean out your drain, you are actually causing the rubber and plastic that are used for the drain's pipes to be eaten away by the mixture. Over time, this rubber and plastic will break down, causing the drain to become even more blocked.
Taze Plunger: Taze plungers are specialty devices, almost exclusively used by professional plumbers.
Now that you understand a plunger's features, you might be wondering which plunger to buy. Expensive plungers are more consistent, and offer easy, repeatable adjustments. Less expensive plungers also work well, and are better than using no plunger.
When Drano is left in the drain for too long, it can cause corrosion of the pipes. The chemicals in the product are designed to break own the clog, but if left for too long, they can start to break down the pipes themselves.
Most bathroom sink clogs result from a combination of hair, dirt, and skin flakes that bind with the gooey soap scum that accumulates on the walls of the drain pipes or gets caught on the pivot rod or stopper of the drain.