Unblocking sinks

lucylucky

A plunger is a wondrous thing, tends to shift most things.

OH is prone to let anything and everything go down the plughole in the belief that "it all drains away"

Sadly not.

Very hot water and some bleach (not at the same time) will help keep a good flow in your pipes. (which for some reason sounds a bit rude!)

I have only had to remove the U bend/trap once when an earring was seen to go down the plughole.

G_M

Plumberman wrote: »

For all the blocked wastes I go to maybe 1 in 10 is a blocked trap (U bend), identifiable by how much water is needed before the waste starts to 'back up'.

Out of interest, what are the other 9 blockages caused by?

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Sulphuric acid

And if that doesn't work you will need to either dig things up or pull things apart

Plumberman

G_M wrote: »

Out of interest, what are the other 9 blockages caused by?

Food or fat down the drain is by far the most common cause, usually blocking the gulley outside. Sometimes the main drain gets blocked and the first thing to show a blockage is the lowest point (usually the kitchen sink and/or washing machine). Sometimes you never pinpoint the blockage as it's cleared with a quick plunge.
WHB and bath traps tend to block more as they get hair and cotton buds (amongst other things) stuck in them.

asbokid

G_M wrote: »

This is by far the best suggestion. No cleaning material, or plunger, will be as effective as physically clearing the U bend.

Put a bucket under and unscrew the joins to remove the ubend. It will be full of grease/gunk etc which you clean out with whatever you have handy to push inside. Rinse in hot water water, and replace.

Sound advice. There's often one substantial piece of debris caught in the trap which is causing all the sludge to accumulate. Lollipop sticks, hair clips, pencils, things so large that they could never go round the bend. Plunging is a very temporary fix.

Ebe_Scrooge

asbokid wrote: »

Sound advice. There's often one substantial piece of debris caught in the trap which is causing all the sludge to accumulate. Lollipop sticks, hair clips, pencils, things so large that they could never go round the bend. Plunging is a very temporary fix.

Seconded. With all due respect to PlumberMan's comment, undoing the u-bend is quick, simple, and best of all, free. If it's not blocked, then it's nothing lost.

If the u-bend is not the problem, then caustic soda can be very effective. Don't waste money on expensive branded products, plain old-fashioned caustic soda on its own is cheap and effective. Follow the instructions on the packet, and be a bit careful - it's good at what it does, but it's also good at causing some rather nasty burns if you get it on your skin !

ariba10

I second the use of Caustic Soda (Read the label first).

Be careful of using compressed air and too vigorous a use of plungers.

Push-fit fittings can come apart and make quite a mess.

LandyAndy

Can you just walk into a shop and buy Caustic Soda?

Does it come as 'crystals' of Sodium Hydroxide or as a solution?

Ebe_Scrooge

LandyAndy wrote: »

Can you just walk into a shop and but Caustiac Soda?

Does it come as 'crystals' of Sodium Hydroxide or as a solution?

My local hardware shop sells crystals, comes in a little plastic bottle. Pretty sure I've seen them on supermarket shelves as well in the past, though I may be mistaken on that.

liam8282

In the past I have used the acid drain unblocker that you can get from B&Q.

Can't remember the exact name of it, it came in a brown card box, with a black plastic bottle inside. Was extremely strong stuff that dissolved whatever the blockage was very quickly.

I used it in the bathroom and could actually see a smoke coming out of the blocked plug hole and could here the fizzing of the reaction.