Welcome back to Replay Thursday where we "replay" an oldie - but goodie - savings tip...so you don't miss out on any of the good stuff :)
Today's tip is a great way to save money by not having to call a plumber. We've all had those nasty drains that are clogged and just won't budge with Draino. Don't call a plumber, do it yourself! Here's how: (see the original post HERE)
My sink has been emptying slowly for a long time, and now it's officially clogged. It's so nasty! I've been meaning to go buy Draino for a while now, then decided to check online to see if I can make my own for cheap! Turns out, you can.
However, the first thing I suggest is unclogging your drain by hand. Gross, yes. Effective, YES!
I found THIS article for tips on how to unclog your drain. It was really helpful!
Check out the video below. I did exactly as she did - unscrewed my stopper (I didn't even know it was connected under the sink! DUH!), pulled it out, and a HUGE clump of nastiness came out with it. That's all I needed to do, no draino needed!
The article had some other good tips for unclogging drains:
How To Unclog A Drain
- Flushing: Remove as much of the water that’s backed up in the sink as you can. Toss 1 cup of baking soda into the drain then pour a large pot or kettle of boiling hot water down the drain. If the sink empties completely, pour another kettle of boiling water down the drain to give it another clean flush and then let cool water run from the tap for a couple minutes.
- Drain Flush: Tried and true method: Remove as much water as you can. Toss 1 cup of baking soda down the drain, then pour a cup of household vinegar down the drain, plug the drain with the sink stopper then let sit for half an hour. After about 30 minutes, unplug the sink and pour a kettle full of hot water on top. See Naturally Unclog A Drain With Vinegar, Baking Soda And Water and Tip: Unclogging the Drain for more details. This is the method I’ve grown up with and it works even if there’s still water backed up in the sink (although it works faster without water). Just double the baking soda & vinegar amount, give it about an hour and if the water in the sink has fully drained, flush with fresh batches of boiling water 2 or 3 times to completely clear out the gunk.
- Plunging: Use a sink plunger to try forcing the drain to clear. You’ll need a few inches of water in the sink to help make a vacuum seal for the plunger and a few forceful plunges to make this work. You can buy a sink plunger that’s about a 1/3 of the size of a regular toilet plunger. These are only a couple bucks, need very little room and they’re great to keep under the kitchen sink in case of a clogged drain. You can use a full sized sink or toilet plunger if you can’t find a small sink plunger.
My shower has been draining slowly as well, but I'm unable to take the drain out to clean it like you can in your sink. I had to make my own "Draino" for this.
As for making your own drain cleaner, nearly every site I found said the same thing: Baking soda + vinegar
I didn't even measure, just dumped. Pretty simple, cheap, and save! I'm going to give it a try, you should to...and save yourself from having to buy expensive Draino!
Happy savings to you :)
