Drain Cleaning Tips!

[Bobelectric]

One of the best tips I could give would be to NOT mix chemicals, because that can cause nasty concoctions. I once had a clogged urinal in a grocery store. It was filled with a "black liquid". A customer was using the other urinal. When I "stirred" the black stuff up it gave off a noxious "smoke". My eyes started watering, so I grabbed the customer and threw him out through the door then waited for things to settle down before going back in. The clerks apparently dumped almost every chemical on the shelves into it to try to do it themselves.

Why wouldn't you close the work area off from outside.non-involved customers before doing any work?

 

[Timbuktu]

You notice the water level in your sink isn't going down. If it is, it's descending at a snail pace. Rather than reaching under the sink for a bottle of Drano, try these tips to ensure a happy sink and ultimately, a happy YOU.

1. Identify what's causing the clog. If you think the likely verdict is hair, you can simply get a drain stick with barbs in it to retrieve all the hair. If it's something else, it will be extremely useful to identify it to take a different plan of attack.

2. Stock up on a few simple tools. Purchase the aforementioned drain stick, barbed and smooth. A small wet/dry vacuum is nice to have in the kitchen closet and of course the plunger.

3. Try to use natural ingredients-based solutions rather than harsh chemical products. A strong vinegar-lemon solution can do the trick for some basic clogs that have things stuck to the side.

4. Take apart the pipes and clean them out with a toothbrush or some sort of scrubbing pad. WARNING: Make sure you know what you're doing before dismantling the plumbing.

5. The best thing you can do to clean your drains is by preventing the clogs from the beginning. You can run a natural solution down the drain on a bi-weekly basis. You can purchase a strainer to prevent hair from entering the drain.

If you have any other suggestions or tips to add please chime in!

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Timbuktu]

Add plastic screen into your kitchen sink strainer. It will trap virtually everything. The holes in basket strainers are too large and the fit of the basked varies in tolerances which allows more stuff to bypass.Of course this is probably unecessary if you are on community septic and water .
Since i dont have public water or septic Ive had to take extra precautions in preventing all tiny food scraps going down the kitchen sink. I used to have to unclog my drain every year because the sink would back up every dec.. When i would buy sink baskets they all varied in snugness of fit into the sink.(BTW My only choices are what walmart or HDepot sells) The baskets just were not fit close enough to my sink dementions and would allow small garbage pieces to bypass the basket strainer . I inserted a plastic screen ,i cut out ,to fit the inside of the strainer. It has worked perfectly. i havent had to unclog my sink now for 2 years instead of every 1 yr.
Bathroom Tub
In the tub,I had to add an extra screen over the tub drain.Its not the perfect set up like my kitchen sink,. but its all I can do with the current design of the tub drain. Id like to change it to the basket design ,like the kitchen ,but it doesnt look very easy to do on the tub.