Picture this: you step into the kitchen to cook a meal that’s going to impress your house guests. After you are finished and everyone has eaten, you notice that you have a clogged kitchen sink. Not only is fixing it going to be terrible but so is cleaning up. Sinks can easily become clogged if they aren’t properly maintained. Just like any other in-house appliance, your sink needs attention in order to prevent stagnant water and pests. So, how do you unclog a kitchen sink?
To prevent things from getting any worse, you can follow these simple measures to look after your clogged sink. The best part? None of these solutions require a large amount of money or a professional. With these simple tricks, you can unclog your own sink quickly and easily with standard kitchen tools.
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The Cause of a Clogged Kitchen Sink
First and foremost, you are not the only person to suffer from the effects of a clogged sink. For many, it is a daily struggle. Sometimes, it isn’t easy to pinpoint the cause.
The leading causes are small food discards such as fruit and vegetable peels and liquids like oils and fats. It is easy to identify when a sink is clogged by the amount of time it takes for the water to drain, a bad smell, or when the water starts to collect in the sink.
Tools Required When Unclogging a Kitchen Sink
- Rubber Gloves: Avoid the nasty feeling and touch of dirty waste and food debris by wearing rubber gloves. They will keep your hands clean.
- Wrench: Loosen nuts that hold the drainage pipe by unscrewing them.
- Bucket: This comes in handy to hold the pile of debris when cleaning the drain.
- Plunger: Plungers help to discard any food debris stuck in the drainage pipe that is clogging the sink.
- Flashlight: You can use your phone as a source of light if you need to. This helps get a clear visual of what’s happening when it’s dark and in small spaces.
6 Ways to Unclog Your Kitchen Sink
Clogged sinks are one of the primary house restorations that can be done on your own. This article will provide you with a list of 6 ways to unclog your kitchen sink.
1. Boiling Water
Hot water is the best solution. The heat will expand the drainage pipe and release the blockage. This works when the pipe is blocked with oil, soap, or smaller debris. This method is most effective if the drain is not connected to any plastic pipe, as plastic pipes can be damaged from this method.
2. Plunging
A plunger is a valuable tool inside and outside the bathroom. For example, you can use a plunger to unclog your kitchen sink with just a few pumps. The strong suction pulls out all the debris that is latched onto the pipes, clogging the sink. Once removed, allow the water to flow freely past it. The process of plunging is simple; place the plunger’s base on the mouth of the drain and then vigorously pump in an up and down motion for a few minutes. Remove it periodically to throw out the collected waste, and then continue the process until the pipes are clear.
3. Using Acids
You can unclog a sink using kitchen cooking ingredients like vinegar and baking soda, which have a slightly acidic concentration. This is an alternative to chemical cleaners. For example, with just one cup of baking soda, you can unclog a sink by draining it down and then use a tool that shoves it along the pipe. Pouring vinegar will give the same results. After this, let the solution sit for at least 15 minutes before draining it away with hot water.
4. Drain Snake Method
A drain snake is a lengthy cord-like instrument that can effectively unclog the drain of a kitchen sink. The long shape helps to break up a clog and catch whatever is causing it. By engaging the debris with this, you can remove the source of the clog. You have to pull out the debris using clockwise motions and then dispose of it off in the garbage
5. Cleaning the P-Trap
The p-trap is the elbow shape joint that connects between the sink and the drainage pipe, and it can also clog. You don’t need to call a plumber because all you need to have is the right tools and some elbow grease. Ensure that you are wearing gloves because things can get messy. The process is to unscrew the connectors that hold the pipe and the p-trap together and then clean them manually. Once done, run the hot water. After the process is complete, you can reconnect the p-trap.
6. Vacuum Cleaner
If you have a wet garbage collector vacuum cleaner, then you’re in luck because this machine is an excellent way to unclog your kitchen sink. Place the mouth of the vacuum cleaner atop the sink drain and then suction out all the waste and debris.
How to Avoid Clogged Sinks in the Future
With due diligence, you can mitigate any troubling concerns over foreseeable clogged sinks – no one wants to repeat the same mistakes over and over again! You can take precautionary measures to prevent clogs from ever happening again. There are different categories of food that you deal with when cooking, and some of them are oils and fats, beverage strains, starchy food deposits, eggshells, fruit and vegetable peels, and meat deposits, to name a few. There are different ways in which each of these must be handled to prevent any clogging in the future.
- Drain oil and grease in a container instead of the sink until the container is full. Once complete, you can drain it all at once to make cleaning a one-time task.
- If you have a garden, then use fruit and vegetable peels as resources to make an at-home compost. This will also provide plants with the essential nutrients to grow.
- Running hot water down the drain after every use is an excellent way to prevent any clogging in the future.
- Use a giant sieve that fits on top of the drain for the waste to be collected and then disposed of in the garbage. These hang onto food debris and do not cover your sink.
Addressing a clogged sink should be immediate because, as they say, the sooner the better! Unfortunately, dirty sinks with wastewater and floating food debris can morph into a rotten mess. Hopefully, the advice in this article will help you address it and prevent a clogged sink from ever happening in the future.