This shouldn't be something you need to do with super high frequency. Do you know what is causing the blockage?
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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So, with just one sink, I was doing this maybe once every few months, so maybe 3-4 times a year per sink. Now that I have family staying with me, I have to do this 3-4 times a year per sink. Not bad, but if there's something I can buy or do to get my time back, I'll take it.
As far as I know, nothing out of the ordinary is causing the blockage. It's some combination of hair, soap scum, and toothpaste. It usually all accumulates on the stopper before it even gets to the P-trap.
Handyman here. Lots of great suggestions for alternatives to pulling the P trap. The thing is, pulling and cleaning the P trap is super easy. Easier than everything else listed here. By the time you bend a coat hanger or go buy some drano, you could have the p trap off and back with no tools needed. I think this may be one of those cases where the best question isn't "could I" but "should I" do some alternative thing...
Assuming it's something like hair, you can usually use a drain snake, small hook, or the dollar store has these things that work surprisingly well:
I also find that the Drano-like things do not all work the same. I like the 10 minute hair clog remover from Zep (available at Lowe's or Home Depot) more than the rest. It's quick and easy, but it's nowhere near as good as the thing above.
Wet/dry vaccuum over the drain. Cover the overflow with you palm. Works very well.
I do this but have a short length of hose I put on the output of the vacuum and the end of the hose I glued foam around the edge to make a good seal. I use masking tape on the overflow and blast it. Works every time.
The cheap plungers you can buy at the dollar store are your friend. They are actually made for sinks, which is why they are flat on the bottom. Toilet plungers are made to fit the bowl.
To use a plunger on a sink, get a rag wet and cover or plug the vent hole (usually at the top opposite the faucet). Then fill up the sink and plunge away.
Good call on the wet rag.
You can also use this same plunger on the shower/tub and also need to block the overflow vent on that. Works great for pushing all the hair and gunk through without disassembling everything.
When you get your short term answer settled, think of the long-term preventative maintenance.
Every 3 or 4 months, fill the sink to the brim with hot water, and then let it all drain. The heat and pressure will help melt lipid deposits and flush them down the system.
do this with all the sinks nearby as well, drain lines like to restrict and regular flushing can help prevent a lot of headache.
I sometimes pour a kettle of boiling water down the kitchen drain to melt the fats. I recall seeing a youtube video of a guy boiling pvc fittings to separate them and reuse them, which caused some concern for my habit of pouring boiling water down. But he had to boil those fittings in a pot for like 30 min with all sides of the fitting getting heat, so I’m not worried.
Budget permitting, it’s best to pour the hot water down ~15-20 min before going to bed, then just before going to bed pour ~50—100ml of enzymes. Enzyme-based maintenence cleaning is most effective when the sludge they will consume is warm. Let the enzymes feast on the nasties all night long.
I love the flat plastic barbed things you shove down the drain, pulling back a ton of gunk stuck on the barbs: Zip tool
They cost a couple bucks at a hardware ire home improvement store. They work extremely well.
Zip tools are life changing. My bathroom sink gets the zip tool treatment every month or so when it starts to drain slowly. It’s amazing how much hair these can pull out.
Take a twisted metal coat hanger and unwind it at the neck. Straighten out the hanger, and shove the unwound end down the drain. As you push it down the drain rotate the hanger in the direction of the unwound end like its a screw. This should get most big hair/material clogs as long as they are before the P-trap. Anything after that get hard, you will probably need a snake at that point.
Thrift is a professional grade drain cleaner a plumber recommended to me. It's powerful stuff so make sure you wear gloves and a mask. It cuts through everything.
Be careful with those! A lot of the more powerful drain cleaners are concentrated sulfuric acid, which can ruin any metal parts of your sink and plumbing. And if they don’t work, and you end up having to snake the drain anyway, you can get chemical burns from the drain cleaning chemicals still in the pipe.
Not saying I’ve never used it in a pinch, but be careful.
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