You have some guests over for the night. After dinnertime comes the time to wash the dishes. It’s just then that you realize you can’t drain the water from your sink; unfortunately, it’s severely blocked. You know your sink is clogged when the water flow is slow, your sink is filled up with water, and whatever you do, you can’t get rid of it. Although there are many hazardous chemicals that can be used to unblock a sink, when exposed to these chemicals, they can be detrimental to your health and even cause breathing problems like asthma. They can damage your pipes as well. Why harm yourself when there are many natural methods to unblock your sink? In this article, we’ll show you how to unblock a kitchen sink or unblock a sink with natural substances and things you have at home. So, let’s get to work:
1. Use boiling water to unblock a sink
Among all the methods of unblocking a sink, applying boiling water is the easiest and even the cheapest. All you have to do is to simply get all the water that is already in the sink out and then pour boiling water from your kettle into the sink and let it stay there for some time. It will give a better result if you leave it there overnight. You might need to repeat this procedure several times actually to get your desired outcome. However, it’s not wise to always think of this method in case of a blockage since the permanent use of boiling water might cause irreparable damage to your pipes, especially when they’re made of plastic rather than metal.
2. using a plunger
Unblocking a kitchen sink with the help of a plunger is smooth sailing. Simply press down the plunger and then lift it up; continue this movement several times and then check to see if the blockage has opened. If not, repeat. One quick tip: don’t use your toilet plunger for your sink; even if you’ve washed it, it’s still filthy. So, just buy a new one, allocate it for sink use only, and put it aside for further use.
3. Use baking soda with vinegar or lemon juice
One of the many benefits of baking soda is that it’s an excellent substance for dissolving grease. The food waste stuck in the strainer is pretty greasy, and the combination of baking soda and vinegar is a great option for unblocking a sink. Besides, they’re cheap and available choices for unblocking a sink. Firstly, pour some vinegar after spreading the baking soda on the surface of the strainer. Next, cover the strainer with a container and let this mixture stay there for about 15 minutes. Afterward, turn the hot faucet on for a couple of minutes and wash out the mixture of vinegar and baking soda.
4. Using a wire coat hook
Another possible way for unblocking a sink is to use a coat hook. To do this, Straighten out the coat hook except for the hook part. Use the curved part of the coat hook as a fishing hook to pull food particles out of the sink pipe. Continue doing this until you feel that nothing’s blocking your pipe anymore. When finished, just turn the hot faucet on to make sure nothing’s left in your pipes.
5. Use a plumber's snake
A plumber’s snake also called a drain snake, is a metal cable with an auger at one end that helps you unblock your sink. It doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg to buy a drain snake, and you can easily find it at hardware stores near your home. You can even rent one from rental centers at a reasonable price. Besides, it’s not hard to operate, so you can easily make use of it for unblocking a sink. Here’s what you have to do:
First, remove the strainer from your sink and push the cable into the pipe. Keep pushing the cable until the cable can’t move further due to resistance. Second, bend the snake to pass the curve in the pipe. After passing the curve, rotate the snake to break up the obstacle by the auger attached to the end of it. Lastly, turn on the faucet to ensure whether the pipe is unclogged.
6. Check the garbage disposal
Garbage disposal is a device functioning with electricity. It is fixated under the kitchen sink to cut food waste into small pieces. Not all the sinks have garbage disposals; however, if you’ve got one, you better check it because the blockage might be rooted in there. Turn on the garbage disposal to force it to operate and get it cleaned thoroughly. In case you couldn’t trigger the garbage disposal, try to reboot it and then activate it again. In the last step, turn the faucet on to see whether the water flow has improved.
Hazardous chemicals are harmful to yourself and the environment, so before making use of them, try out natural ways to unblock a sink. They might take some time to bring an outcome, but be patient and give your sink time to find its way back. When you were eventually able to unblock a sink keep in mind that this problem might get repeated unless you beware of food particles and try to keep them out. Another thing that might be helpful is to install a screen on your strainer to avoid anything from getting inside the pipes. Also, remember to pour hot water into your sink from time to time to push down anything that might be stuck there.
Nonetheless, if you made your effort and couldn’t get rid of the blockage, don’t worry about it; it still can be fixed. You can call our expert plumbers for help any time, and they’ll be there whenever you need them. Hopefully, these environmentally friendly techniques will come in handy and be useful when facing such a dilemma.
