The Hot Water Solution
Let me tell you a little secret: questioning the drain cleaning power of baking soda and vinegar is controversial. It gets people mad, very mad. I get emails and comments that are not appropriate to post on a PG website.
Im sorry if youre upset, I really am. I was a baking soda/vinegar devotee for a long time. However, once I started researching green cleaning ingredients and bad cleaner combinations I realized that the trick was not doing me much good and I was wasting baking soda and vinegar that I could use to clean other things.
How To Use A Drain Snake
If you try the drain cleaners above to no avail, you may need to go in and manually get out the source of the clog. A drain snake, also known as a drain weasel, is an easy way to do thatâjust dont try to DIY one with a wire hanger. I do not ever recommend using the wire hanger method as we often see broken p-traps from the rigid sharp metal poking through the bottom. Once this occurs there is no longer a seal on the plumbing system to keep unpleasant sewer gasses from entering the home, says Mulder. The better suggestion is to use a small drain weasel.
Dont Miss: Schluter Kerdi-drain Grate Kit 4 Oil Rubbed Bronze
How Baking Soda And Vinegar Interact With Each Other
Baking soda and vinegar lie on opposite sides of the pH scale . Vinegar is a 3 on the pH scale , whereas baking soda is a 9 .
When you combine baking soda and vinegar together, the resulting mixture produces carbon dioxide gas. This can even create quite a bit of pressure within a closed system . Note that most drain systems are not closed systems, there are branch line, vent lines, overflows, etc. However, for use around the house, this combination is most effective as a cleaning agent.
Also Check: How To Drain Your Ear
Can I Leave Baking Soda And Vinegar In Drain Overnight
It will fizz like seltzer and foam up a bit. Leave it in the drain for an hour or two or overnight, and then flush the drain with hot tap water. For larger drains, such as tubs and kitchen sinks, use about a quarter-cup of baking soda, a half-cup of water to move the powder down, and 2 cups of vinegar.
Does Vinegar And Baking Soda Damage Pvc Pipes
What if you have PVC pipes in your plumbing system? Will cleaning with white distilled vinegar and baking soda harm those pipes?
The answer is no. In fact, baking soda and vinegar are two of the safest and most effective ways to clean pipes.
They will not cause any damage to PVC pipes and can actually help to keep them clean and clear of blockages.
So, if you have PVC pipes in your home, feel free to use baking soda and vinegar to clean your drains.
Recommended Reading: How To Fix Smelly Sink Drain
Homemade Drain Cleaner Baking Soda
masuzi 2 days agoUncategorized1 Views
How To Make Your Own Homemade Drain Cleaner
How To Unclog A Drain With Baking Soda And Vinegar
Homemade Drain Cleaner Recipe To Clear Clogged Drains Simplemost
Unclog Your Drains With Baking Soda And Vinegar Natural Cleaning Trick Mom 4 Real
3 Proven Diy Drain Cleaning Techniques Economy
Diy Natural Drain Cleaner My Merry Messy Life
Why You Should Never Use Baking Soda And Vinegar To Clean Clogged Drains Bren Did
5 Homemade Drain Cleaners For Clogged Drains Dengarden
5 Homemade Drain Cleaners For Clogged Drains Dengarden
Why You Should Never Use Baking Soda And Vinegar To Clean Clogged Drains Bren Did
How To Make Your Own Homemade Drain Cleaner
How To Unclog Drain With Baking Soda And Vinegar
Powerful Homemade Drain Cleaner 2 Ings Fabulessly Frugal
5 Natural Homemade Drain Cleaners Hgtv
How To Easily Unclog A Drain Without Harsh Chemicals Baking Soda Vinegar You
Unclogging Plugged Sinks Homemade Drain Cleaner More
Why You Should Never Use Baking Soda And Vinegar To Clean Clogged Drains Bren Did
Unclog Your Drains With Baking Soda And Vinegar Natural Cleaning Trick Mom 4 Real
Clear Your Clogged Drain With These Easy Recipes Eyman Plumbing Heating Air
How To Unclog A Drain With Baking Soda And Vinegar Crunchy Betty
Tips For Clogged Sinks Homemade Drain Cleaner Recipe Nj Plumbing Repair Replacement And Maintenance
Homemade Drain Cleaners 4 Natural Recipes That Work Well Good
Homemade Drain Cleaner Recipes
What To Use To Clean Kitchen Sink Drain
Pour half a cup white vinegar into the kitchen sink drain right afterward. Immediately plug the drain with anything that will fill the hole and prevent any of the fizzings from coming out. Leave the mixture of baking soda and vinegar in the drain to settle for about 30 minutes. While you are waiting, begin to boil a tea kettle of hot water.
Recommended Reading: Installing Drain In Bathroom Sink
Also Check: What Size Drain For Shower
Few Tips On How To Clean Sink With Baking Soda And Vinegar
These six simple techniques will help to prevent your drains from clogging and keep them clean without using expensive or harsh chemicals.
1. Use strainer baskets in all of your drains to prevent food particles and hair from clogging the pipes.
2. Never put grease or oil down the drain. Wipe the cookware with a paper towel after cooking greasy or oily foods so that less grease, oil, and fat go down the drain and cause a clog.
3. To avoid greasy clogs, add boiling water with a grease-fighting dish soap down the drain regularly.
4. Coffee grinds should not be disposed of in the sink. Coffee grounds dont break down when immersed in water. They cluster together and clog your sink instead.
5. Before cleaning greasy pans, wipe them down with a paper towel. This will get rid of a lot of greases and prevent it out of your drain.
6. You can use baking soda, vinegar, and salt to clean and freshen your garbage disposal.
How Often To Clean Your Drains
Weekly, flush drains with boiling water mixed with liquid grease-fighting dish soap, such as Dawn. Clean your drain with baking soda as soon as you notice the water is draining slowly. You can also use this process as a regular maintenance method for your drains. For example, if you keep a box of open baking soda in your refrigerator to absorb odors, use the old baking soda to flush your kitchen drain when it comes time to change the box.
Here are the various methods with simple steps using baking soda to clean drains.
Read Also: Drain Cleaner Baking Soda Vinegar
Boiling Water And Rock Salt
While there are many commercial drain cleaners available, they can be expensive and contain harsh chemicals.
A more natural solution is to unclog the sink with boiling water and rock salt.
This method is safe and effective, and it only requires a few household ingredients.
The boiling water will break up the clog, and the rock salt will help to remove any remaining debris.
Ingredients Equipment & Steps To Prepare Homemade Drain Cleaner Recipes
Before making the best DIY drain cleaners, its best to have a list of ingredients, which we will require for our drain cleaner-making recipes. Start by searching the baseline supplies you may already have in your home for the drain cleaner, then supplement your list to your needs. Here are the basic ingredients that youre likely to buy.
Also Check: Types Of Kitchen Sink Drains
Baking Soda And Vinegar Keep Drains Clean And Flowing
Q I have noticed black slimy stuff in my bathroom sink drains. I don’t know if it’s black mold, mildew or soap scum. Is there anything I can do to prevent it from happening again, or to clean them without having to unscrew the drain elbow and take a brush to the insides of the pipe? I have a septic tank, so I’m a little leery about using any harsh chemicals in the sinks. — Karen, Beverly Hills, Fla.
A Mr. HandyPerson is not recommending you do this necessarily, but if you went through your home with a flashlight and looked down all the other drains , you’d see that about an inch down, all these drains are likely to look pretty gross. The gray/brown/black gunk you’ll see can be a combination of dirt, food particles, bacteria, mold, mildew, soap scum, cleaning products, cooking grease and dozens of other things that go into the drains depending on their location. From considerable firsthand experience, Mr. HP can assure you that the insides of drain and waste pipes are not pretty.
The substances and gunk that coat the insides of drainpipes do not pose a “problem in need of a solution” unless the drain becomes slow or blocked, or if the drain emits an unpleasant odor.
However, there is something quite simple and inexpensive you can do on a regular basis to prevent odors and to keep the drains operating freely. It is easy, cheap, environmentally harmless and safe with all kinds of plumbing, including septic tanks.
_______
How To Use Baking Soda And Vinegar
Going with baking soda and vinegar could be a great option if your clog isnt too bad. Older plumbing can take some damage when exposed to particularly harsh drain chemicals. Additionally, because baking soda is a natural deodorizer, it will take care of any gross smells lingering down in your drain.
Also Check: Why Does My Drain Smell Like Rotten Eggs
How To Unclog A Sink With Baking Soda
Your home can have a couple of different sinks, yet the one in the bathroom can be the hardest to deal with when it gets clogged.
Hair, soap scum, toothpaste, and other grooming chemicals can form an impenetrable clog in bathroom sinks. But before you call a plumber, there are several easy and inexpensive ways to unclog your drain.
If you have a severe issue, you could need to know how to unclog a drain using a baking soda and vinegar drain cleaner, yet the first course of action is to know how to deal with clogged drains.
In our guide, you can learn how to unclog drain using these chemicals to best advantage.
Balkan Sewer & Drain Cleaning Can Help
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, a clogged drain may still cause you trouble. Maybe youve tried baking soda and vinegar, hot water and detergent, and even an over-the-counter drain cleaner all to no avail.
If the clog is that stubborn, you may need to call in some reinforcements. Thats where our team at Balkan Sewer & Drain Cleaning comes into the picture. Here are just a few reasons to choose us:
- Experience. Our family has been removing clogs for the residents of New York City since 1952. With almost 70 years of experience and over 70,000 customers under our belt, we know how to remove even the toughest of clogs.
- Reliability. We pride ourselves on our fast response time 4 hours or less! We are also available 24/7 for emergency situations.
- Affordability. We only charge highly competitive, reasonable rates for our services. Furthermore, our rates remain the same for after-hours, weekend, and holiday service.
- Quality. We have a reputation for delivering high-quality service no matter the job type, location, or difficulty level. Theres a reason why tens of thousands of New Yorkers trust us to fix their sewer, water main, and drain issues!
If home remedies dont work, and you want to get rid of a clogged drain without any more hassle, reach out to Balkan Sewer & Drain Cleaning today. Well do what we do best: quickly and affordably clear your clog!
Also Check: 3 Compartment Sink Drain Parts
Pour It With White Vinegar
When you feel that baking soda is entirely down the drain and fighting against the mess, you can use another DIY drain cleaner for its help. Pour two more cups of white vinegar down the drain.
Your sink may be filled with these ingredients, but you shouldnt take care of it. The factors of baking soda vinegar drain the sinks along with all the spills and food residue effectively.
The chemical reaction of both these homemade ingredients will help to protect your drain from future unclogging. Here you have the option to pour some salt down the drain and make this drain cleaner more strong, but this kitchen ingredient is the optional one.
How Long Do You Leave Baking Soda And Vinegar In Drain
Leave the baking soda and vinegar in the drain for at least 10 minutes. You can also wait until the fizzing stops. Then wait an additional 10 minutes before you flush the drain. Youll want to give the baking soda and vinegar plenty of time to work, so its better to wait a longer period of time than to flush the drain too soon.
Don’t Miss: Sewer Smell In Shower Drain
Remove Stinky Shoe Odor With A Baking Soda Sachet
Shoe odor is a fact of life, especially if you dont wear socks or have shoes made of synthethic materials. Smelly shoes are no match for this easy baking soda hack that deodorizes your shoes when your feet arent in them. Simply make a baking soda sachet, plop it in your shoes and let the baking soda do the work!
Gather these ingredients:
- Dish towel, wash cloth or cheesecloth
- Ribbon, string and rubber bands
- Optional: Essential oil of your choice
Directions to make baking soda sachet for shoes:
These baking soda shoe sachets are reusable. For maximum smelly shoe odor removal, change the sachet monthly.
How To Prevent Your Bathroom Sink From Clogging
There are a few simple steps you can take to help keep your basin free and clear.
- First, be sure to use a drain cover. This will catch hair, soap scum, and other debris before it has a chance to go down the drain.
- Second, be careful what you put down in the sink. Avoid pouring grease or oil down the drain, as this can build up over time and cause a clog. Coffee grounds, eggshells, and even pasta can also cause problems, so it’s best to dispose of them in the trash instead.
- Finally, regularly clean your drain with a vinegar-and-water solution to help remove any build-up that might be causing problems.
You May Like: How To Drain Nasal Passages
How To Prevent A Clogged Sink
It may be impossible to completely avoid a clogged sink drain, but there are a few things you can do to ensure it doesnt happen too often. For the bathroom sink, keep small items and trinkets out of proximity of the drain.
Its so easy for small pieces of jewelry or hairpins to slip down the pipes. Over time, these items could cause an issue with plumbing, so be careful.
Also, for the shower drain, use a hair stopper to prevent strands from going down the pipes. Hair is one of the biggest culprits of backed up shower drains. However, using preventative measures will help you avoid plumbing issues.
Furthermore, be careful with grease and food in your kitchen sink. Dispose of large chunks of food in the trash and run the garbage disposal for small, soft bits of fruits and veggies.
Also, avoid pouring grease down the drain. As the saying goes, oil and water dont mix, and pouring oil and grease down the drain is sure to cause a problem.
What About The Pressure Created
Lots of readers ask about the pressure created during the vinegar/baking soda reaction and wonder if it will force a drain clog out. The answer is yes and no.
- Yes, when baking soda and vinegar are combined the chemical reaction produces carbon dioxide gas which creates pressure in a closed container.
- No, the baking soda/vinegar reaction created in a drain/household plumbing system does not take place in a closed system so pressure cant build up enough to blast a clog out of the pipes.
You may have seen vinegar/baking soda experiment conducted in a closed container like a balloon or bottle. Theyre an impressive demonstration of the power of chemical reactions. However, its important to note that these experiments take place in a sealed container where the CO2 gas has nowhere to escape.
A household drain system is not a sealed container. From kitchen drain to sewer your pipes hold a much larger volume of liquid or gas than a balloon or bottle, so it would take a lot more CO2 to fill the pipes to a point where pressure builds up. Plus, the CO2 being created byt the baking soda/vinegar reaction can escape though the plumbing vent system, holes in your drain or drain cover, and/or spaces in the clog. Its not air tight!
You May Like: Cast Iron Drain Pipe Clogged
How To Clean A Sink Drain With Baking Soda & Vinegar
You can clean sink drains and remove minor sink clogs using a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. The fizzy chemical reaction is ideal for dissolving sink clogs caused by grease, toothpaste or soap buildup. This helpful how-to video shows you the step-by-step directions on how to clean a sink drain. For tougher clogs, contact your local Roto-Rooter to inquire about our drain cleaning service.