Prevention and Remedies To Unclog a Blocked Drain

Prevention and Remedies To Unclog a Blocked Drain

If you have ever had a blocked drain then you will know that this is not at all a pleasant experience. Nor is it a situation that we would choose to find ourselves in.

Prevention is definitely the better option to take here, by making sure that you do not put anything down your sinks that could potentially block your drains.  This means no food scraps are to enter the drain via your sinks and most definitely no oils or fats. These are the very worst things and they will block up your drains in a flash.

To prevent these items from entering your drains always make sure that you use a rubber spatula to scrap off any food, oils or fats from plates and other dishes, utensils, pots and pans too. Always use hot soapy water to wash your dishes in. The hotter the better but be careful not to scald yourselves either.

Once your drains become blocked they are very hard at times to unblock. Cap this off with the fact that bacteria has been building up in that blocked drain all that time and this becomes a potential health hazard.

Sometimes over many, many years of use a drain will eventually become blocked and in that case then you need to deal with the situation as quickly and as effectively as possible.

Try first of all pouring boiling water down the sink. This might just clear the blockage if it is not too bad and failing that it should at least soften whatever is blocking it all up.

A good natural method is mix up the following concoction:

1 cup salt

1 cup baking soda

1 cup vinegar

Mix all the ingredients together and then pour this mixture down the drain. Follow this immediately with 2 quarts boiling water.

This is sufficient to unblock most drain blockages but in some extreme cases you might have to bring out the heavy artillery. This is commonly known as Caustic soda or Lye.

WARNING: Please handle and use Caustic soda (Lye) with caution and always wear protective eye wear and gloves when using this because when it comes into contact with a liquid it becomes extremely hot and will severely burn your skin.

Sprinkle about ½ a cup of caustic soda (lye) down your sink or into the blocked drain entrance and leave it to do its magic.

Warning: Do not breathe in the fumes as they can damage your lungs.

If your drain still remains blocked then repeat the procedure of your choice until the blockage is removed and the water drains away freely once again.

And remember not to put anything down your sink that will cause the drains to block up again.

For a blocked sink try just using a plunger to free up the obstruction before applying any of the above technics.

If after several attempts to unblock your drain have failed then you might have to bite the bullet and call in a plumber. If you have trees near your drain piping it is quite possible that the pipes have been damaged by tree roots. Cross everything that this is not the case as that can end up being a very expensive exercise to remedy by the plumber.

Have you ever had a blocked Drain? If so how did you manage to unblock it? Please share your thoughts on this in the Comments section below.