How to clear your sluggish drains

When I was a child fixing blocked or sluggish sinks was always a job for Dad or the plumber. It usually happened when Dad was at work so a plumber was the first point of call. Don’t get me wrong he did a great job of unblocking in seconds, but I don’t think it was worth the crazy call out fees!

When I moved out of home I was faced with the dilemma, do I call the plumber and pay money or should I try and fix it myself? He makes it look easy enough. After a few goes at the plunger the sink was still sluggish and slow at draining the water so I called my Grandma for advice (I knew Mum would just tell me to call the plumber).

She gave me this super simple recipe using products I had at home, and no harsh chemicals!

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of white vinegar

Method to unclogging your drain: 

• Pour the cup of baking soda down the drain
• Pour the vinegar in and cover the drain immediately (either with your plug or with an upside down plate if you don’t have a plug handy). This will bubble a lot so don’t worry if it looks like a volcano erupting.
• Let the mix sit in the drain for around 15 minutes and then remove the cover and run boiling water through the pipes.

There was hardly any water sitting in the sink when I did this so if you have a really blocked drain I would probably try removing as much water as you can so it doesn’t dilute the mixture.

How do you unblock drains?

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