How do you keep your sink drains clean?

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  • atgcpaul
    Veteran Member
    • Aug 2003
    • 4055
    • Maryland
    • Grizzly 1023SLX

    #16
    Originally posted by JimD
    changing doggy diapers... Old Yorkie.
    I had to read that twice!

    I would estimate that sink had about a 25% blockage. I didn't even notice that in normal operation with the water running at full blast.

    BTW, I found water leaking out of the hot water side. I wasn't able to tighten the nut onto the bottom of the faucet sufficiently (my friend is lending me her basin wrench tomorrow) so I turned the shut off knob to off (there's got to be a better way to say that) this morning. That only made it worse which I didn't find out until tonight. Luckily I had a spare 1/4 turn shut off valve which I swapped in (notice the time, I did it about 10 minutes before HD closed so I would have been SOL if it didn't work). I was also able to get a better wrench on the connection to the faucet and all looks water tight now. I added a bunch of those 1/4 valves to my Amazon cart, too. When I replace the kitchen sink, I'll be swapping those in.

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    • sailor55330
      Established Member
      • Jan 2010
      • 494

      #17
      I agree the hair/makeup/scum is nasty, but nothing compared to what my wife did. She put about 4 cups of cooked rice down the disposal and didn't flush it long enough. Sure enough it formed a solid wall about 40 ft into the pipe and then backed up. Luckily my basement isn't finished so I could get at it. I couldn't find a power auger long enough so I had to cut the drain pipe to get at the clog. It had solidified to the point that I could "tap" the pipe much as you tap to find a stud. It took a hammer and a large screwdriver to "chip" the blockage away, all while having it "rain" drainage back up on on me.

      I didn't say much but made her watch. To this day, she won't put anything down the disposal without asking me to do it first---even though I didn'tmake that rule.

      Comment

      • atgcpaul
        Veteran Member
        • Aug 2003
        • 4055
        • Maryland
        • Grizzly 1023SLX

        #18
        The sink in our kids' bathroom was draining VERY slowly. My younger daughter and I decided to tackle it this morning. Note to self, don't eat a big breakfast before taking out the P-trap. Barf. There was a big clump of hair and and rank sludge in there. I used a piece of scrap wood to push it all through. Free flowing now, but yuck!

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        • os1kne
          Senior Member
          • Jan 2003
          • 901
          • Atlanta, GA
          • BT3100

          #19
          I'll give another vote for the "Zip-it" thing from Home Depot. I've had one for 5 years or so, and used it enough times that it's about time for a new one. The hair from my wife and 2 daughters causes clogs / slow drains. When the drain starts going slow, I slide the zip-it in and usually pull out a rat of hair (particularly good for tub drains, where you can't get to the p-trap.)
          Bill

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          • gerti
            Veteran Member
            • Dec 2003
            • 2233
            • Minnetonka, MN, USA.
            • BT3100 "Frankensaw"

            #20
            Originally posted by os1kne
            I'll give another vote for the "Zip-it" thing from Home Depot.
            Same here. That thing works! No more hurting your back and fighting with the pipes, making a mess etc. A few seconds with that thing is all it takes. Still gross, but over with quickly.

            Comment

            • Two Much
              Established Member
              • Mar 2003
              • 365
              • Long Island, NY
              • (two) Ryobe BT-3's

              #21
              Originally posted by dbhost
              http://www.realsimple.com/home-organ...rain-unclogger

              Baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water. Seriously, it works. Not perfectly clean, but clean enough to keep you from losing your lunch under the sink... My wife's sink jams up pretty regularly with gunk that looks like that gray goo you guys are talking about, combined with spots of what I think are her makeup base... Just nasty stuff.
              That's how we do our drains, about twice a month.

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              • capncarl
                Veteran Member
                • Jan 2007
                • 3564
                • Leesburg Georgia USA
                • SawStop CTS

                #22
                There is a lot of stuff I'd rather do than work on drains. I agree with doing the minimum necessary by using the zip it thing, but nearly every time I crawl under the sink to work on something I find another potential problem that would show its ugly face sooner or later. Last time I found the nuts on the p trap and its piping finger tight, just waiting to leak, another time a shut off valve had a slow leak. So it may be better to crawl under the sink and remove the p trap and give everything a good shake!

                Comment

                • Tom Slick
                  Veteran Member
                  • May 2005
                  • 2913
                  • Paso Robles, Calif, USA.
                  • sears BT3 clone

                  #23
                  Zip it works great
                  Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison

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                  • cwsmith
                    Veteran Member
                    • Dec 2005
                    • 2737
                    • NY Southern Tier, USA.
                    • BT3100-1

                    #24
                    Originally posted by dbhost
                    http://www.realsimple.com/home-organ...rain-unclogger

                    Baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water. Seriously, it works. Not perfectly clean, but clean enough to keep you from losing your lunch under the sink... My wife's sink jams up pretty regularly with gunk that looks like that gray goo you guys are talking about, combined with spots of what I think are her makeup base... Just nasty stuff.
                    My wife did that years ago. Not sure what happened, as to whether it was old baking soda or perhaps mistakenly baking powder, or maybe not enough vinegar.... but what we ended up with was a sink drain that felt like you had poured plaster down it. I snaked the trap but that was somewhat clear. Pulled it apart and pushed the snake further until it hit a stone wall.... move the snake back and forth and it would just cluck against something solid. Ended up pulling that section of pipe all the way into the basement ceiling. Sure enough, there was this rather solid chuck of dirty whitish crapp. Took the end of a steel rod to smack it apart.

                    I use drain cleaner on occasion for maintenance (yeah, I know) and on those rare occasions when we have a clog, I'll use a quick suction from the shop vac. (You don't want to do that too long or you might suck back more than you bargained for.) Beyond that, I'll just call Steve, the plumber; he's a great guy! (I absolutely hate plumbing on almost every level!)

                    CWS
                    Think it Through Before You Do!

                    Comment

                    • tjoosk
                      Banned
                      • Aug 2019
                      • 10

                      #25
                      I cleaned out some bathroom drains some time back and the drain pipes and P-trap were coated with a thick coating of a grey goo. I finally figured it out that it was toothpaste.
                      It wasn't really greasy and washed out with a garden hose spray nozzle easily enough. But toothpaste is something we wash down every day a tiny bit at a time. And the only thing, really.
                      Is you powder room used for toothbrushing?

                      Comment


                      • LCHIEN
                        LCHIEN commented
                        Editing a comment
                        Thanks for copying my post again without attribution.
                    • jon_ramp
                      Established Member
                      • Feb 2007
                      • 120
                      • western Chicago burb
                      • Craftsman 21829

                      #26
                      +1 on the Zip-It tool.

                      Comment

                      • capncarl
                        Veteran Member
                        • Jan 2007
                        • 3564
                        • Leesburg Georgia USA
                        • SawStop CTS

                        #27
                        Our kitchen sink drain gets clogged up with grease somehow.... we don’t pour it down the drain, I guess it comes from the dishwasher. A snake or zip tool won’t reach around the turns in the pipe, the clog must be somewhere near the intersection of the main piping. We’ve tried everything to break the clog without much luck. A friend suggested boiling water so I put several large cook pots on the stove and got the water to a rolling boil and dumped it down the drain. After several large pots full the clog was gone. About every 6 months I have to do it again, but it always works. I was scared it would melt the plastic drain pipes but they are barely warm to the touch after a boiling water flush. I’m getting ready to flush out the bathroom drains soon, I think the toothpaste is the culprit for this clog.

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                        • LPadilla34
                          Handtools only
                          • Aug 2019
                          • 3
                          • Phoenix,AZ
                          • DeWalt - haven't checked the model yet.

                          #28
                          Vinegar and baking soda works. You just have to use a plunger when the dirt inside the drains softens.

                          Comment

                          • capncarl
                            Veteran Member
                            • Jan 2007
                            • 3564
                            • Leesburg Georgia USA
                            • SawStop CTS

                            #29
                            I’m tired of regular plungers on a stick.
                            This is what I went looking for.
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                            This is the best I could find locally

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