Clogged drains: 10 remedies and tricks to unclog shower and sinks without leaving the house

How to clear clogged drains and sinks without resorting to specific products, but using ingredients that we commonly have at home? Discover the simplest and most effective remedies to free the traffic jams in the bathroom and kitchen

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

Removing a blocked drain can become a real nightmare and it can often seem that the only solution is to use bleach or expensive specific products to unclog showers and sinks or even worse to call a plumber. But before we get to these extreme assumptions it's worth trying some cheaper but effective ways and tricks for which you won't even have to leave the house.

Clogged drains are most of the time caused by an accumulation of food, grease and hair sedimented over time along the pipes making it difficult for water to pass through. In particular, fat can be a nightmare to get rid of, but luckily these simple remedies and in many cases solvers can help us.

The natural remedies that we indicate to you, in fact, will be effective substitutes for the solutions that are usually used to gush household drains, such as bleach or specially designed products that are on sale in any supermarket, but which unfortunately most of the time can result pollutants.

Here are some alternative ways to gush drains and sinks that actually work and that you can resort to the next time the problem arises. With any luck, you will avoid calling the plumber, clear the traffic jam in no time and save money. (Read also: 5 alternative remedies to free the toilet flush)

Index

Salt and baking soda

This is one of the simplest remedies to resort to in the event of a clogged household drain. To fix this, pour over the drain:

4 tablespoons of coarse salt and
4 spoons of sodium bicarbonate
followed by a pot of boiling or very hot water.

Hot water and sinks

If you don't have any ingredients in your house that could help you gush out your drains, don't forget the old one plunger. It is one of the most used means also by plumbers to solve less problematic traffic jams. Insist by applying pressure with the sink plunger and try to gradually pour in very hot water, to move the traffic jam.

To be able to unblock the traffic jam in a sink drain, it may be useful to use a metal stick (plumbers use, for example, metal spirals). Try it with del wire or with a iron for knitting.

Dish soap

This is a particularly good remedy for the discharge of the kitchen sink. In fact, the pipes can easily become clogged due to food residues, grease and dirt from washing dishes. The detergent could therefore be useful to unblock the situation. By using an ecological dish soap, you will limit pollution. Pour some half glass down the drain and let it sit as much as possible so that the traffic jam can move or dissolve. Then try to pour in hot water little by little to facilitate the operation.

Shampoo and shower gel

If, on the other hand, the problem of blocked drains concerns the bathroom, try to use what you have handy more easily, i.e. shampoo and shower gel. If you will be away from home all day, or if the problem occurs during the night, try pouring half a glass of shampoo or body wash down the drain and letting it sit as much as possible. On your return, complete by pouring boiling water to check the effectiveness of the remedy. In the case of some traffic jams, the best solution is to wait, which could be short.

Sodas

Le sodas they are certainly not healthy, but they can be useful for gush out the domestic drains, especially in the case of the toilet, in the absence of other remedies and if you do not have time to wait long. The most common fizzy drinks are so powerful that they can clear even the most clogged drains from the toughest traffic jams in minutes. Try it for yourself by pouring it down the drain in an emergency. Read also: 10 alternative uses of Coca Cola

Laundry soda (Sodium carbonate)

To clear the drains, but also to prevent traffic jams, you can use the laundry soda (better known as Soda Solvay). This is not caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) but a ecological product powder for house cleaning (sodium carbonate), easily available on supermarket shelves next to washing machine detergents. Pour at least 4 tablespoons - depending on the traffic jam - down the drain and follow by a liter of boiling water.

Baking soda and vinegar

Bicarbonate and vinegar, when combined, create a chemical reaction that can facilitate the release of traffic jams in the pipes: acetic acid, in fact, reacts with the bicarbonate, basic, releasing carbon dioxide, a gas that produces the effervescence capable of removing clogging of food, hair and soap. If the problem is difficult to solve at the first attempts, pour a whole glass of baking soda and at least half a liter of vinegar down the drain without problems. Follow it all by a liter of hot water and wait. If the problem does not resolve itself immediately, try again after a while, perhaps even helping you with mechanical means.

Citric acid and bicarbonate

With citric acid and bicarbonate you will get a reaction very similar to that between vinegar and bicarbonate described above as regards the effect of unblocking traffic jams, but citric acid has the advantage of being less polluting than vinegar once dispersed in the environment , therefore between the two, we recommend this and to use vinegar only if you do not have critical acid available at home. The procedure is very similar:

Pour into the drains half a glass of citric acid, follow by half a glass of baking soda and a liter of hot water. Wait patiently for the remedy to work. (Read also: Citric acid: how to use it and why prefer it to vinegar in cleaning)

Hot water, salt and vinegar

If you don't have citric acid at home, here is another solution that includes ingredients that are always present in the kitchen. You will need 500 milliliters di vinegar of White wine, 1 liter of water and 5 tablespoons of coarse salt:

Heat the vinegar in a saucepan and the water in a separate saucepan.
Pour the coarse salt into the water and mix.
Then take care of the drains using first the vinegar and then the boiling salted water and wait.

Caustic soda

Use the sodium hydroxide (sodium hydroxide, the same soda you use for make soap at home) only if the problem is very serious and if the previous remedies have not worked, or if it is the only useful ingredient you have at hand, outside the classic products for drains. Don't forget the precautions: wear gloves, never touch the soda with your hands, if you can protect your eyes with a mask or glasses. Pour two tablespoons of soda along the drain pipes, follow with boiling water, step away and let it act. (Read also: Caustic soda: use at home and all the precautions