Best Home Remedy For A Clogged Drain (With 7 More)

Are you looking for a home remedy for a clogged drain? Are you tired of traditional drain cleaners not doing the job? Follow along! This article will go over different home remedies that are tried and true. Everyone should have these household items lying around, and if they don’t solve the problem, we point you in the right direction for more professional help.

Signs Of A Clogged Drain

Take note of any of the signs below.

Home Remedies For A Clogged Drain

If you spot any tell-tale signs, it’s time to whip out the traditional home remedies. Make sure to remove any drain caps before you use these methods so you can clear the clog as much as possible.

1. Dish Soap & Hot Water

Take two liters (8 cups) of water and boil it in a pot. Mix in a few tablespoons of dish soap into the water. Lastly, slowly pour the mixture down the sink or drain. This may take a few tries to work.

Note: Hot water works best on clogs caused by grease, fast, oil, and organic matter. It doesn’t do so well on clogs caused by hair or other substances. Avoid using this method if you have PVC pipes or porcelain sink bowls.

2. Wire Coat Hanger

If you don’t have a plastic drain stick, which you can find at the local store, you might have a wire hanger lying about. Straighten the hanger out but leave the hook at the end. Then use the hook to pull anything out of the drain. Once you take out as much of the clog as you can, pour some hot water and dish soap down the drain just in case.

3. Salt, Borax, & Vinegar

You need 1/4 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of Borax , 1/2 cup of vinegar, and a pot of boiling water. Drop them one by one into the drain ending with the hot water. Let it sit for an hour or until it clears, and rinse the drain with tap water.

4. Baking Soda & Vinegar

Clear the area around your sink, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by 1/2 cup of vinegar. Plug your drain and let it sit for an hour. Lastly, unplug the drain and pour hot water down until the drain is clear.

5. Baking Soda & Salt

Mix 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of salt and pour them down the drain. Let it sit from half an hour to overnight. Once it’s been given enough time, clear it with a pot of boiling water. The more challenging the clog, the longer the mix needs to sit.

6. Baking Soda, Salt, & Cream Of Tartar

Pour 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup salt, and two tablespoons of cream of tartar in a jar that seals. Close the jar, and shake to combine the ingredients. Pour half the jar’s contents down the drain, and save the other half for later. Follow the solution with a pot of boiling water. Let the drain sit for one hour. Then, run tap water to rinse any remaining solution down.

7. Baking Soda & Lemon Juice

Take 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup lemon juice and pour them one by one down the drain. Plug the drain and let it sit for one hour. Finish with a pot of boiling water.

8. Plunger

Mainly for the kitchen sink, this can help remove food stuck in the p-trap of the sink. Fill the sink halfway with warm tap water and get plunging.

How To Prevent A Clogged Drain

How can you prevent a clogged drain from occurring after you’ve just cleaned it? Here are some things to avoid.

Grease, Cooking Oil, & Fats

Never dump these down your pipes. They will solidify, stick to your pipes, and cause clogs.

“Flushable” Wipes

“Flushable” wipes are only flushable in the sense that they can be flushed down the toilet. Getting them to go through a drain pipe is a whole other problem.

Only flush bathroom tissue and human waste down your toilet, water down your showers, and soap down your sink.

Drain Cleaner (Containing Sulfuric Acid)

Most drain cleaner products contain sulfuric acid, which can ruin the metal when exposed to pipes like cast iron.

Let’s take a look this post – Causes of sewer line to clog

If The Problem Is More Than A Clog

If you have a severe clog, and none of the solutions work here , here are a few professional solutions that fix clogs.

Hydro-Jetting (Pipe Cleaning)

Hydro-jetting is a safe, effective method of pipe cleaning. Hydro-jetting can clean out all of your sewer and plumbing lines, built to work with all sorts of pipes in or around your home. Plumbers use a CCTV sewer camera to find out where most blockages are coming from.
Hydro-jetting uses a self-propelled nozzle that shoots up to 4,000 PSI of water, blasting everything in its path. The hose is connected to a tank of water and a machine that creates the pressure. Your pipes are accessed using one cleanout, a section of pipe with a removable cap. Hydro-jetting utilizes different nozzles for different obstructions. Some are for tree roots, while others only clear away sludge.

Pipe Lining (Trenchless Sewer Line Repair)

A unique, epoxy-impregnated liner is inserted into the old pipe and inflated. This creates a new pipe inside the old one. Pipe lining can be considered replacement or repair depending on whether the whole pipe length will be lined or just a section.

If only a section of pipe (a spot repair) is lined, it is considered a repair. If you line the whole pipe from start to finish, it is like getting a brand new pipe installed (aka replacement).

Read more about – Trenchless Sewer Pipe Lining

Pipe Bursting (Trenchless Sewer Line Repair)

Pipe bursting is where a new HDPE (high-density polyethylene) pipe is attached to a winch with a cone-shaped bursting head and pulled through the damaged line. The damaged pipe breaks apart as the new one takes its place.

Note: Sometimes, a drain pipe is so severely damaged that no trenchless method is viable. Plumbers cannot use trenchless technology on pipes that are back-pitched, which means that the original contractors failed to use the proper slope for your sewer line to your city connection. Also, if the pipe has collapsed onto itself, you will have to go the conventional trenching route.

Drain Cleaning Near You

It’s time that New Flow Plumbing comes in to save the day. We’ll get you started with a CCTV sewer camera inspection to determine where your problems come from. Then, we give you a free repair estimate, followed by available repair options. Whatever the issue, New Flow Plumbing will have your plumbing running perfectly again. Contact us today.