We have a detailed guide on how to clean your stainless steel kitchen sinks.

Now, let’s talk about how you can clean your kitchen sink drain: the part that is responsible for getting the used water out of the sink bowl. It involves the drain itself and the drain pipes underneath the sink.

Depending on how intensive you need the cleaning to be, there are three different ways to do it:

• Using boiling water

• Using a drain cleaner, either a product or a homemade one

• Using a drain snake

Method number 1: Using boiling water

It’s pretty straightforward. Boil water. Down the sink drain. Psssst. You’re done.

Just kidding. Here is a more detailed breakdown:

1. Take 1 liter of water.
2. Bring it to a boil.
3. Slowly pour it down the drain. Pour down one third of it and then wait for 10 to 20 seconds.
4. Repeat until all the water has been poured.

We discussed this same method in the “How to Unclog Your Sink” post. However, even if your sink is not clogged up and just needs a good cleaning, you can use this method.

Method number 2: Use a drain cleaner

The next method involves using a drain cleaner. You can either use a dedicated product made for drain cleaning, or you can cook one up yourself.

No, it’s not difficult. Let me teach you.

1. Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda directly into the drain.
2. Pour in 1/2 cup of white vinegar right after it. The mixture will fizz.
3. Cover the drain with a plug or damp cloth and wait 15 minutes.
4. Run the tap for a minute to flush the drain.

There you go.

Remember, this is a recipe for a homemade cleaner. If you have a store-brought cleaner, you can just use that according to the provided instructions and not dabble with white vinegar and baking soda.

Also remember that you should never mix cleaning agents together. Don’t mix store-brought cleaner with your own concoction. Doing this can create and release harmful gases in your home.

 Method Number 3: Use a Drain Snake

A drain snake is a device that physically clears the drain either by breaking the blockage enough to be carried away by the flowing water or by pulling it out the way it went in.

It is a good solution to clogged sinks. We’ve discussed it in our guide on how to unclog your sink.

This is what it looks like:

One end of the drain snake goes in and the other you rotate. Rotating the handle makes the coil go round until it snags the blockage, and then you can pull it out.

It’s less of a way to clean your drain. It’s more of a way to unclog it.

If your drain is blocked to a degree that no water is passing at all, check out our guide on how to unclog a sink. It’s not a matter of cleaning anything. It’s more of an unclogging job.

You should still clean your drains every now and then, but there are some habits that you can follow to avoid getting them very dirty or clogged up.

1. Use a mesh strainer on the drain so that hair and debris are caught early.
2. Don’t put grease down the drain. Oil that you wish to dispose of should be thrown into the trash after being poured into a leak-proof container. Oil can coagulate down the drain and cause clogs.
3. After you’re doing the dishes, let hot water run for a little bit so that all remaining bits are washed away.

If you regularly clean your drain and follow the habits that we’ve shared above, it won’t get blocked up and become a nuisance.

We’ve mentioned three different cleaning methods in the guide above, including the hot water treatment, drain cleaners, and drain snaking.

You can do the hot water treatment every couple of days, the drain cleaner treatment every week, and drain snaking when there is a clog.