I don’t have any pictures for this Quick Tip, but after reading this, you’ll thank me.
Boys and girls, I’d like to talk today about clogged drains! We have three ladies in our home, all of whom have very long, beautiful hair. It is our habit to brush our hair in front of the mirror, over the sink. This is not a good habit, but I really don’t think it will change any time soon.
Needless to say, our bathroom sink drain gets completely clogged with hair every few months. It is usually at a most inconvenient time, like when dinner is cooking, when the relatives are visiting, or when I’m sick. Last night, it was the latter. I was about ready to crawl into bed, when someone hollered that the sink was clogged again and the water was rising. Being the astute mother that I am, I digressed from my path and promptly shut off the faucet– giving my child the look for allowing the water to continue to pour into the basin.
We have no Draino in the house. I won’t have it. I once kept it on my shelf, but after a few uses, it killed my pipes. Yep, totally ate through them. That was not fun, let me tell you.
So for the past few months, I’ve been using a narrow comb. Yep. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I would spend half an hour over that stupid sink, plunging the comb as far down as it could go and digging the hair and ikky gunk out. Not fun, either. But it worked, and didn’t kill my pipes. I’ve been thinking all this time that there has got to be a better way. I even threw away the comb to prevent me from using it and to force me to think up something better (necessity being the mother of all invention and all that).
Last night, right in the middle of digging into the sink with a coat hanger, it hit me! My plumber auger! I’d bought a small one over the summer for a toilet job. It was small enough to insert into the sink drain and, with some effort, could loop into the P-trap. It worked! I have no idea why I didn’t think of this months before. But.. all I care about is I’ll never have to use a comb or coat hanger again!
By the way, a plumber’s auger (or snake, as they are sometimes called) are found at any home improvement store, usually in the $15 to $25 dollar range. Every homeowner should have one, in my opinion. And never, never, never use Draino in old house plumbing!
21. February 2008 at 5:57 am
We have had good luck with the ZIP IT tool…about 3-4 bucks at the hardware store. As long as you don’t try to use a plunger on it first which only pushes the clog further down the pipe.
I agree with you about definately no Draino.
http://www.zipitclean.com/