3 Easy Ways to Unclog a Clogged Drain

3 Ways to Unclogg your Backed up Drain

At SewerTV we are all for DIY, and when we’re faced with a drain clog we understand that it just makes sense to first try and solve the problem yourself. That’s why we encourage you to take action when those tell-tale signs of clogs begin showing: pooling water, bad odors and slow drains. If you end up putting it off, you might find yourself with a total clog one day…and nobody wants that.

pipe repair

That’s why we’ve listed these three easy ways to unclog your Fullerton drains. We’ll assume you have already tried to use your plunger. After all, it’s the most obvious solution laying around. If that doesn’t work, you should try the following methods as they’ve all proven effective for minor clogs. If these do not work, it might be time to call SewerTV to solve your problem. But first things first…

Wire Hanger Method

We’ll begin with one of the easiest ways to unstop minor drain and pipe clogs, the bent wire hanger. Take a wire hanger and straighten it out. After doing so, bend a small hook at one end. If you have a drain cover or stopper, remove that, then begin pushing the hanger into the drain. You’ll want to think of this as fishing. It is extremely effective for hair clogs and sediment caking. As you do it, always remember that you want to be pulling the clog out, not pushing it in further. After you dig all the impediments out that you can, boil water and pour it down the drain. Then run hot tap water behind that.

Baking Soda And Vinegar

Baking soda and vinegar is a time-tested home cure for clogged pipes that is proven effective for minor clogs. Mix equal parts vinegar and baking soda, say about a 1/3 of a cup. It will begin to fizz. That fizz is what you’ll want to see. Pour that solution immediately into the clogged drain and let that effervesce inside the pipe for several hours or even overnight. An alternative to this method is to pour raw baking soda down the drain and follow that with the vinegar. This removes or clears basic types of sink clogs. Again, follow this process with pouring boiling water down the drain and follow that with hot tap water to be sure that you clear all remaining matter from the pipe.

Wet/Dry Vacuum

If you have a shop-vac on hand, you can use that to clear clogged drains. Begin by setting it to vacuum liquids and then create a strong seal around the drain. You might want to modify an old plunger head, but most times you can sufficiently seal the drain with the vacuum and its native suction. After that, turn the vacuum on and see if it can loosen that clog enough to draw it in. It doesn’t always work, but it’s worth a shot and it’s a real time-saver.

This entry was posted in blog. Bookmark the permalink.