Quick overview/short answer: Unclog a sink drain by pouring boiling water to loosen debris. Follow with a mixture of baking soda and vinegar, letting it sit for 10-15 minutes. Flush with hot water. For stubborn clogs, use a plunger or a plumber’s snake to remove the blockage manually.

Sink drains can get clogged up every now and then. It can cause a holdup in your kitchen and put the day-to-day tasks to a stop. But that won’t happen if you know how to unclog the drain when it decides to get blocked up.

In this post, we’re going to first tell you about the various methods for opening a sink drain. Once we’re done with that, we’ll list some helpful tips that you can follow to make sure your drains don’t get clogged in the first place.

Let’s get started.

The first method we mentioned is to simply pour boiling water down the drain.

There isn’t much to it really. Here is what you need to do:

• If there is standing water in the sink, remove it manually. Take it out using an old container and throw it away in another drain that’s not clogged up.
• Then take 1 litre of water and put it on high heat. Wait for it to boil.
• Carefully lift the pot and start pouring it slowly down the drain. Pour the water in two or three batches, not at once.
• After a few minutes, run normal hot water from the faucet and see if it goes down. If it does, you’re good to go. If not, repeat the process a few times.

If the blockage seems even more stubborn, you can try out the next solution instead.

Example of a situation where this solution is suitable.

Remember, boiling water is perhaps the simplest and mildest way of unclogging a sink. It can work great for situations where there isn’t a total blockage. For example, if the water is going down, but slowly, you can wait for it to drain and then pour boiling water down the pipe.

Precautions for this method

Here are some precautions to take when using this method to unclog your sink.

• Be very careful with the boiling water. Ideally, boil the water in a bigger pot than needed so that there is less danger of it spilling over. Use oven mittens when grabbing the handles. (You can never be too careful.)
• Pour the water gently directly over the drain. Don’t pour it on the sides of the sink or even the base of the bowl. This will ensure that the water doesn’t bounce off and splash you.
• It is not advisable to use this unclogging method often, i.e., Plastic pipes can get damaged due to the high temperature.

This method is identical to the one above except for one step.

Before you pour the hot water in, put about eight tablespoons of salt (preferably of the raw and coarse kind instead of the refined stuff) in the drain. Then pour in the hot water and let the mixture simmer for some time.

Repeat this process a few times if it doesn’t work the first time. If the blockage persists, move on to the next solution on our list.

Example of a situation where this solution is suitable.

If you discern that the blockage is being caused by soap scum or grease (instead of debris), this solution can be ideal. The salt in the mixture can clean away the messy residue.

What better solution to a clogged sink than to give it some fizzy stuff to drink?

I’m joking. Don’t actually put sparkling water down the drain.

Vinegar and baking soda, when combined, have a frothy reaction. The bubbly mixture is excellent for cleaning purposes.

You can give this treatment to your clogged sink and get rid of the blockage. Here is what you need to do.

• If there is any standing water in the sink, get rid of it.
• Take your coffee mug and fill it with baking soda. Take another cup/mug and fill it with vinegar in the same amount.
• Carefully pour the baking soda into the drain. Don’t be hasty and get it all over the place.
• Once the baking soda is in, pour the vinegar and wait.
• After 30 minutes, run hot water from your faucet to clear the mixture from the drain.

Example of a situation where this solution is suitable.

Vinegar + baking soda is a good solution for a stubborn blockage that seems to keep coming back. Usually, in situations like this, the hot water treatment can break away enough of the scum/debris to open the drain, but not enough to keep the problem at bay for long.

In a situation like this, you can use the vinegar and baking soda solution to get rid of the problem for good.

Moving on, we have the age-old solution to blocked drains: plungers.

Here is what you need to do:

• Fill the bowl of the sink with a bit of water so that the head of the plunger is submerged.
• Place the plunger directly over the drain and start the up-down action.
• After a few noisy sloshes, you will hear the blockage getting cleared away.
• Turn the faucet on and clear the drain.

Important point to remember: As we mentioned earlier, plungers use a seal-vacuum system to force the blockage away. If your sink is a double sink (with two drains), the vacuum won’t be created if the other drain (that isn’t being plunged) is not blocked.

…that’s confusing.

Block the other drain hole with the drain cover. Then start plunging away at the blocked one. That’s it.

Example of a situation where this solution is suitable.

Plungers work by creating a seal through the rubber cup when attached to the opening of the drain. The pressure created by the up-down movement of the plunger causes the water inside the drain, as well as the blockage, to move back and forth. This dislodges the blockage, and the drain is opened.

Keeping this in mind, plungers are ideally used in situations where the blockage comes suddenly. That usually means that the blockage was caused by something getting stuck in the pipe, not a gradual buildup.

What is a drain snake?

A drain snake is a thin, metallic wire/cable with a looped head or a spring-like head with sharp edges. It is inserted into the drain and then moved/rotated to loosen the debris stuck inside. The debris then gets stuck to the auger and is pulled backwards, allowing the blockage to be removed.

How is a drain snake used?

The drain snake is pushed down the drain pipe until the blockage can be felt. When the clogged debris is detected, the drain snake is spun by hand so that the mess can get caught on the end. The snake is then retracted, pulling back the debris.

Example of a situation where this solution is suitable.

This solution is great for situations where chemicals and plungers aren’t working and the blockage needs to be firmly moved with force.

Wait. Isn’t that what you call the plumber for? The P-Trap sounds like some complex joint that normal humans aren’t supposed to touch.

That’s probably what most people might think.

In reality, the P-Trap is super easy to clean, and there’s nothing in it that an average person can’t do.

What is the P-Trap?

The P-Trap is a U-shaped bend in the drain pipe below your sink. The purpose of the P-Trap and its particular shape is to hold water in the bend so that smelly gases don’t start back-channelling from the sewer system inside the home.

Many times, after a period of not being used, kitchens and bathrooms can start reeking of sewage. This happens because the water in the P-Trap dries out, and the smells have an open passage. (This doesn’t have a bearing on clearing clogged sinks. We’re just trying to explain P-Traps efficiently.)

How Do You Clean the P-Trap?

Here is what you need to do.

• Place a bucket under the P-Trap to catch any water or gunk that may come out when you remove it
• Remove the P-Trap by pulling it out of the joints on both ends
• It’s possible that much of the gunk/blockage inside comes out when the piece is removed, but clean it out nevertheless
• Wash the P-Trap and drain it properly before reconnecting it
• Check and see if the blockage has been cleared

Example of a situation where this solution is suitable.

Removing and cleaning the P-Trap is usually the last resort. If there is a blockage that simply isn’t going away with the other methods, you can then tend to the P-Trap.

You should call a plumber if you try all the solutions above and the problem still persists. Or, if you notice that, along with the blockage, another problem develops (such as leaks or breaks). They have specialized tools and expertise to handle more severe blockages. They can also identify underlying problems and issues in the plumbing system.