Cleaning a disgusting-looking, slightly clogged sink drain?

[Marcos]

I dunno what substance is in there, but it's visible when you glance down. I'd take a pic but it turns my stomach a bit and would have to put a warning on it

Anyhow, its a 6-spoke metal drain cover that can't be removed, no screw, so i have to work through it.

What do you guys do with trouble drains? I wish i could just spray a load of foam in there and rinse the problem away.

I'll get a pic later


PS i dont think theres any trouble further down the pipe, its just something's built up nearer where you can see it.

[fazer]

I have to same problems with my bathroom sink, the wife and daughter brush their hair and over the sink and approx every 12 months I have to dig it out.
What I use is a sturdy with a bit of flex metal rod which has been curled at the end to act as a hook, works brilliant.

[Hoonigan]

Unscrew the U-Bend and clean it out that way? Not a tricky job by any means.

[weta]

Remove the U-bend (trap) under the sink and clean it.

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7600144_cl...d-kitchen.html

http://www.readersdigest.com.au/how-to-unblock-ubends/

[GoNz0]

ask your husband


(ducks and runs)

[Zak33]

sometimes, you need to melt the gunk/goo that's holding the .. muck!!

Fill kettle.. boil...

while it's boiling fill sink with hot tap water, plug in ... and once brimmed.. take plug out and let hot water run down pipes... this brings pipes up to a warmer temperature before ...

pouring the boiled water down ....

lots of stuff melts with this method... but it needs LOTS of hot water to wash it all FAR DOWN....if you add cold water to it too soon... or with not enough hot... it simpyl congeals further down the narrow bit.

It's also sometimes worth buying drain unblockers.... sachets of some weird gunk that foams and eats the gunk.

Done it three times... v effective.

[Dareos]

caustic soda, instructions are on the bottle

[Marcos]

sometimes, you need to melt the gunk/goo that's holding the .. muck!!

Fill kettle.. boil...

while it's boiling fill sink with hot tap water, plug in ... and once brimmed.. take plug out and let hot water run down pipes... this brings pipes up to a warmer temperature before ...

pouring the boiled water down ....

lots of stuff melts with this method... but it needs LOTS of hot water to wash it all FAR DOWN....if you add cold water to it too soon... or with not enough hot... it simpyl congeals further down the narrow bit.

It's also sometimes worth buying drain unblockers.... sachets of some weird gunk that foams and eats the gunk.

Done it three times... v effective.

Gave this a shot, cleaned up a good portion of it

[mycarsavw]

Go to a supermarket and buy a pack (or two) of Dry-Pak Soda Crystals.

Mix them with Zak's method above and you'll be on to a winner, there's no need to use any of the over priced drain cleaning products at all.

They're good for cleaning a whole load of other things too.

[kalniel]

caustic soda, instructions are on the bottle

Agreed. Works for all manner of cleaning duties. Very effective for bathrooms and sinks, cheap.

[tiggerai]

Although - I can definitley recommend the Mr Muscle Sink and Plughole unblocker (orange bottle, blue cap)

Has sliced it's way through my hairy cloggy drains on many an occasion and I now use it once a month to keep them nice and sparkly! It says to use the whole bottle, but I can get a couple of goes out of one... Sink and Shower x2 times.

[Matthammer]

As above detaching the u-bend is fairly straightforward. If the blockage is still out of reach or its a ceramic fixed sink you cant get to u-bend...

For gunk (grease and other thick stuff) - Put baking soda on the plughole (some will filter through, pour a little white vinegar on and give it a few mins then clear through with boiling water. Abrades any buildup round the edges, pushes through gunk and sorts the smell as well.
For stuff like hairs, you can get little rods with hooks on to jab through the plughole. However .... the flimsy ones will often break and leave you with a hook inside the u-bend heh .. bit like the whole buying a snake to catch a mouse and so on. I've found pipe-cleaners do the job without the hook even. They are thin enough to go through the holes, long enough to reach down and the bristles snag hairs etc.

[ristac]

We had a similar problem for weeks, tried boiling water, drain cleaner, bleach, you name it we tried it, I even rigged the Karcher pressure washer up to blast it and the problem kept coming back, in the end we got someone out to sort it. It turned out that the main drain in the street was blocked causing the waste water to drain away too slow causing a build up of crap.

[petrefax]

Although - I can definitley recommend the Mr Muscle Sink and Plughole unblocker (orange bottle, blue cap)

i'll add my vote to this stuff too. both myself & mrs P have long hair & shower at least daily (plus, despite not wishing to admit it, i suspect given my age my rate of hair loss is slightly faster than hers!) so our shower plughole takes a bit of a battering. since discovering it, once a month the shower gets 1/4 of a bottle of this & its never been a problem since