You can unclog most sink, bath and shower drains without chemicals by working through a short sequence: pull out what you can reach, flush with hot water, plunge, clean the trap under the sink, and finally use a drain snake. Most blockages near the plughole are hair, soap scum or grease, and one of these steps usually shifts them. If several drains are blocked at once, the problem is further down the pipe and a plumber is the better call.
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Check What Kind of Blockage You Have
Run water in the other sinks, the bath and the shower before you start. Where the problem shows up tells you how far away the blockage is.
- One slow drain: the blockage is close to that fixture, usually in the plughole or the trap. This is the kind you can clear yourself.
- Several slow drains, or water coming up in a shower when the toilet flushes: the blockage is likely in a shared pipe or the main drain. Call a plumber.
- Gurgling sounds or sewage smells from several places: also a sign of a main drain problem rather than a single clog.
Also check what your pipes are made of. Look under the sink: white or grey plastic pipe is usually PVC, and that matters for the hot-water step.
Step 1: Remove the Stopper and Pull Out Debris
Start by taking out the plug, stopper or strainer and removing anything you can see. Bathroom sinks and showers often clog with a mat of hair just below the surface, and pulling it out solves the problem more often than you might expect.
Wear rubber gloves. A torch helps you see into the drain. For hair that sits just out of reach, a cheap plastic drain-clearing strip with small barbs along its edges grabs it well. Push it down, twist, and pull up slowly. A straightened wire coat hanger with a small hook bent at the end does the same job, though it can scratch enamel, so go gently.
Step 2: Flush With Hot Water and Washing-Up Liquid
Squeeze a good amount of washing-up liquid into the drain, then pour in hot water in two or three stages, a few minutes apart. Hot water softens grease and soap scum, which are the main causes of slow kitchen drains.
Take care with the temperature. Plumbing guides such as Bob Vila’s warn that boiling water can soften PVC pipe joints and crack old porcelain sinks, so if your pipes are plastic or the sink is old, use the hottest water from the tap instead of a kettle. Pour slowly and keep your face away from the plughole.
Does baking soda and vinegar work?
Baking soda and vinegar can help with light grease and smells, but it is a mild cleaner rather than a strong unblocker. The fizzing is the two reacting with each other, and it won’t push through a solid mat of hair. If you want to try it, pour about a third of a cup of baking soda into the drain, follow with the same amount of white vinegar, cover the plughole for 15 minutes or so, then flush with hot water.
Step 3: Use a Plunger the Right Way
Use a plunger with enough water to push and a tight seal, because it works by pushing and pulling water through the pipe, which breaks up the clog.
- Use a cup plunger for sinks, baths and showers. Flanged plungers are designed for toilets.
- Block the overflow hole with a damp cloth. In a double sink, plug the second drain too, otherwise the pressure escapes there.
- Run enough water to cover the rubber cup by a few centimetres.
- Seat the plunger over the plughole, then push down gently to remove air before plunging firmly up and down for 15 to 20 strokes.
- Lift it off sharply and see whether the water drains. Repeat a few times if needed.
Never plunge a drain that still has chemical drain cleaner in it. The plunger can splash the chemical onto your skin and eyes. If a cleaner has already been used, flush with plenty of water first, or call a plumber and tell them what went in.
Step 4: Clean the Trap Under the Sink
If plunging doesn’t work, the blockage is probably in the trap, the curved section of pipe under the sink. Plastic traps on most modern sinks unscrew by hand.
- Put a bucket under the trap and lay an old towel around it. The trap is full of dirty water.
- Unscrew the two large nuts that hold the trap in place, turning anticlockwise. Use grips only if they won’t budge by hand, and avoid overtightening when you refit.
- Tip out the contents and clean inside the trap with an old bottle brush.
- Check the pipe that leads into the wall for any blockage you can reach.
- Refit the trap, making sure any rubber washers are seated, then run water and check for drips.
Wear gloves and safety glasses for this job, especially if anyone has poured a drain product into the sink recently.
Step 5: Use a Drain Snake
A drain snake, also called a hand auger, reaches clogs further down the pipe than a plunger can. It is a long, flexible coil of wire with a handle that you crank to turn it.
Feed the snake into the drain (or into the pipe behind the trap, with the trap removed) until you feel resistance. Turn the handle to work the tip into the clog, then pull back slowly. Hair often comes out wrapped around the end. Run hot water afterwards to flush out what’s left. Hardware shops sell basic models, and many also hire out longer ones.
When Should You Call a Plumber?
Call a plumber if several drains are slow at once, if water backs up into a bath or shower from another fixture, or if you notice sewage smells. Get help too if the steps above don’t clear a single drain, if you find a leak, or if the pipework is old metal that looks corroded. These usually point to a problem in the main drain or the pipework itself rather than a simple clog.
How to Keep Drains Clear
Keep drains clear by fitting a mesh hair catcher over bath and shower drains and emptying it regularly, since a little prevention saves most of the work above. Scrape plates into the bin before washing up, and let cooking fat and oil cool and set, then put it in the bin instead of the sink. Many water companies ask households to keep fats, oils and grease out of drains for exactly this reason.
Every week or two, run hot water through kitchen drains for a minute. If you have chemical cleaners you no longer want, don’t pour them away: the EPA advises keeping such products in their original containers, never mixing them, and following the label’s disposal directions.