Knowing how to unclog a bathroom sink is useful information to have. There are countless methods out there, and some of them can destroy your home’s plumbing. The good news is there are a few ways to unclog a sink that is safe for your home’s plumbing. Keep reading this article to get a complete list of 100% safe ways to unclog a bathroom sink.
Why Does The Sink Get Clogged?
Aside from the kitchen, the bathroom is the most frequently used room in your home. And the sink is the most frequently used part of the bathroom. Everything from getting ready in the morning, to washing your hands before you leave are all done with the sink. That means a lot more than just water goes down that drain.
It’s common for shaving cream, toothpaste, and a lot more to be rinsed down the bathroom sink. This stuff can build up in the drain over time, causing a bottleneck to take place. The solution for a clogged sink is to find a way to remove this bottleneck and get the water flowing again.
How To Unclog A Bathroom Sink With Standing Water
Standing water is a sure sign there is a problem. The first thing you can try is to use a plunger. This is the least invasive method because it only uses pressurized air and water to move the clog.
It might seem a bit weird putting your toilet plunger in the sink. That’s why they make these sink plungers that are designed specifically for this job. The downside to using one of these plungers is if the clog is too far down, and you have an overflow hole in your sink, the plunger will just move the pressure out of this hole.
These types of plungers work best if the clog is right at the drain in the sink. If the clog is lower than that try plugging up the overflow hole with a rag or something like that. Don’t use toilet paper because some of it may break off and make the problem worse. Your goal is to move enough of the clog so the water moves out of the basin. If you drain the sink you can move on to the next method.
Clean Out The P-Trap
The p-trap is a curved section of pipe that is below the sink. It is what the water drains through on its way out of your home. The curve in this section of pipe tends to get clogged as the stuff in the water slows down and settles.
Bear in mind it’s pretty gross in this pipe, so if you are squeamish you may want to skip this option of unclogging the sink. To remove the p-trap start off by clearing out enough of the items below the sink to be able to work under there. You will need to access the back wall where the pipe goes into the wall.
Use a pair of adjustable pliers that the jaws open wider than 1-½ inches. Loosen the nuts at both ends of the p trap. Once they get started with the pliers you should be able to finish loosening them by hand. Pay attention to how these nuts came off because you will be putting them back the same way.
When the nuts are completely loosened you will slide the pipe out of the back wall and take it out from under the sink completely. Inspect the inside of it to see if it’s clogged. You may want to take it outside and use the hose to clean it out if this is an option. If not, take it to the kitchen sink to try to unclog it with water. Use something like a bottle brush if you have one to try to remove the clog.
Install it back under the bathroom sink when you are done with the p trap. If this wasn’t the problem, and the clog is further down we can try the next method.
How To Unclog A Bathroom Sink Clogged With Hair
This method requires you to have access to a garden hose nearby. You will start by removing the p trap like in the previous method. Attach a Drain King to the end of the garden hose. Place it into the pipe coming out of the wall. You want to get it in there far enough to where it’s completely in the pipe plus a few extra inches.
Turn the hose on the full amount. This works best if you have someone else helping you so one of you can hold the end of the hose in place and the other can control the water.
Let the water run for several minutes. The Drain King will expand with water and form a seal in the pipe. The pressure will force the hair clog to move through the pipe. You want to let the hose run long enough to where it frees up the clog and moves it all the way through the pipe. Otherwise it may just stop and form another clog further down.
How To Unclog A Bathroom Sink With Vinegar And Baking Soda
Vinegar and baking soda are ingredients many people have in their home. This is one method for unclogging a drain, but isn’t always the best. Let’s try it to see if it works.
Start off by boiling a pot of water to use in a bit. You then want to mix one cup of baking soda with one cup of vinegar and one cup of water.
Once the pot of water is boiling, carry it to the bathroom and pour it down the drain. Be careful not to spill it as you carry it from the kitchen to the bathroom. After you pour it down the drain start another pot of water boiling.
After the water is poured down, get the baking soda solution and dump this down the drain. Plug up the sink drain and the overflow for 5-10 minutes using the drain plug and/or wash towels.
When the next pot of water is done boiling you can dump it down the drain. This process is meant to clear the clog from the drain. Hopefully it worked, but if not, let’s try the next option.
How To Unclog A Bathroom Sink Naturally
One of the worst things you can do when trying to unclog your bathroom sink is to put harmful chemicals down your drain. Though they may be effective at dissolving the clog in your drain, they will also dissolve the pipes over time as well. This ends up being a much more harmful method than it’s worth.
There is one type of “chemical” that I can’t recommend enough. You can consider an enzyme as a microscopic life form that eats away at organic matter, making it easier to flush down the drain. When you put these enzymes into your plumbing pipes they end up reproducing and eating away at material that may cause future clogs before they have a chance to take hold.
There’s a product called Green Gobbler that uses these enzymes to help unclog the drain. There are several different versions of this product that are recommended for different types of applications. I prefer the original formula, but they also make an industrial strength formula that is great for situations like a kitchen sink that had too much grease put down it.
Read the directions for the product you choose. Each application has different instructions for use. If it doesn’t work completely at first go ahead and try it again in the next day or two.
Do not put boiling water down your sink after using the enzymes because it will kill them. You want to give them a chance to build up their population enough to do work long term.
How To Prevent A Bathroom Sink From Getting Clogged In The Future
The only way to completely prevent a bathroom sink from getting clogged is to not allow anything to go down it. The best way to do that is to use a sink strainer. What this will do is catch anything that would have gone down the drain otherwise.
The sink shroom is a bathroom sink strainer that you use in the place of the sink stopper that comes with the faucet. You would need to remove this in order to install the sink shroom.
It is easy to keep clean, letting you quickly clean it off when the sink begins to clog. To do this simply pull the sink shroom out of the drain hole, and use a wad of toilet paper to wipe it off. Then place it back in the drain hole.
Conclusion
Knowing how to unclog a bathroom sink without damaging the pipes is an important skill to have. The truth about it is some of these methods may not work on every type of clog. You most likely will be trying more than one of these methods to completely unclog your sink for good.
The truth is once you free the clog it’s good to take preventative actions. This will ensure you don’t have this problem again in the future.
I hope this article helped you with learning how to unclog a bathroom sink. Thanks for reading.
Happy Renovating,
Kevin