How to Unclog a Drain...Naturally

It never fails! You’ve spent the last half hour or so getting ready for a very important meeting or date with your spouse. You look into the sink, and there’s a clog. You really don’t want to pour a chemical product into the sink to get rid of the clog, so what can you do?

Many people will say you should never use a chemical product because they just don’t work. So what are your options? Those options will depend on how quickly you have to be out the door, and the amount of effort you want to expend.

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to move a clog is to use a plunger to try to move the clog out of the way with pressure. If you have previously used chemicals in the drain to remove the clog, make sure you use rubber gloves and safety glasses to protect yourself.

Following the plunger method, you could try plain, boiling hot water. Plug off the overflow holes and start pouring boiling water slowly down the drain. Leave the water in the sink for at least a half hour. The clog may dissipate on its own.

If you haven’t used a commercial drain cleaning product recently, you might consider using this solution. All of these items would commonly be found in your kitchen.

Pour one-half cup of baking soda into your drain. Carefully pour one-half cup of vinegar over the baking soda and cover the drain, if at all possible. At this point, the two will begin bubbling just like a child’s volcano experiment for school. After a few minutes the bubbling should stop.

Pour at least a half gallon of boiling water over what’s left of the baking soda and vinegar. Then follow that with hot running water to flush it all down the drain. This process may have to be used more than once to clear the stubborn clog.

If after you’ve tried the vinegar and baking soda and the clog is still there, you have other options besides chemicals. Do you have a “snake?” This is a 25-50 foot metal wire with a bulb at the end. You push the snake into the drain. When it hits the blockage, you just keep twisting until the drain runs free.

So you’ve tried a plunger, vinegar and baking soda, boiling water, and a snake. What happens if your drain is still clogged? It might be time to bite the bullet and call a licensed plumber.

While home methods will sometimes work on the first or second try, there may be more of a problem than you realized. It is at those times that you will want to allow a professional to take over. Not only will they be able to get your drains running again, they might save you a bigger problem in the future. -ecofriendlyliving