Tips and tricks to get that blockage gone and your water moving again!
If your water is pooling in your sink and not actually disappearing, or taking a very long time to slip away – you probably have a blockage somewhere in your drain. A blocked drain is about as convenient as a sore tooth, so you want to know how to fix it ASAP.
Try these easy DIY tricks to get things moving again if you need a quick fix! If these don’t work for you – get in touch with one of our drainage specialists today for an affordable, quality service to get your drains back in working order in no time!
Using boiling water to unclog your drains is the most simple and effective way to encourage blockages to dissolve and move on, allowing water to free flow again. Build up of cooking oils and other debris can be essentially softened or melted by boiling water and therefore shifted.
Gradually pour boiling water down the blocked drain. You can do this in stages, with breaks in between, so that the boiling water can do its job effectively melting down any oils or matter than needs breaking down. Using boiling water is also an excellent way to pre-empt a blockage, so pour boiling water periodically down your drains to prevent a build-up that could lead to an eventual blockage.
This is one the easiest ways to clear a blockage from your drain, but it does take a bit of elbow grease from you. Line the plunger up with the drain and then fill the basin or bath with enough water to just cover the lip of the plunger – this creates a great seal and makes the plunging more effective.
For added seal, you can line the plunger lip first with vaseline to seals the space between the plunger and the mouth of the drain. Once secured in place, you are going to want to push and pull the plunger in quick motions, taking care to pull as hard as you push, before removing the plunger.
Repeat the plunging until the blockage is free-flowing again. If a plunger can not move the blockage, there’s probably a bigger problem at hand that could require a specialist’s expertise to fix it.
You can find a powerful anti-clogging solution in your own kitchen if you know where to look! Mix 1 cup of baking soda, 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water together. Prep your drain by pouring a pot of boiling water down the drain first.
Then tip your mixture down the drain and cover the opening it with a plug or something else similar. It may froth up – this is to be expected.
Wait at least 10 minutes, but 30 minutes is preferable. Pour boiling water down the drain again and check whether your blockage has been alleviated.
If it hasn’t, try again but leave the mixture in the drain overnight to eat away at more stubborn or established blockages.
This is a little trickier to do, so if you’re not well versed in taking apart a pipe, we’d recommend to maybe not try this one at home. Despite that, it’s fairly simple to do. To begin with, you’re going to want to make sure there is no mess and no spills, so find an empty bucket and place it under the u-bend pipe (the one that is shaped like a U) under your sink.
Loosen the bolts or nuts on either side of the pipe using a wrench and remove the pipe. Use the bucket to empty any contents of this removed pipe into. Using a thin tool, like a toothbrush or wire, check the inside of the pipe for any debris and empty it all into the bucket. Once it looks clear, rinse the pipe thoroughly and put it all back together.
If cleaned correctly, this normally solves the problem completely.
For fast relief of blocked drains, these are tried and tested methods that most people can do themselves. If you are still struggling with relentless drain blockages – contact one of our drainage specialists at Easy Flow Drainage today to solve that problem once and for all!