Smell from Bathroom Sink

newbieni

Hi All,

I have an ongoing issue with a smell from the sink in the bathroom. I have tried a number of different plug cleaning products and whilst the smell goes away for a week or two, it always returns. It's a very unpleasant smell, akin to rotting eggs. Can anyone suggest a permanent fix?

Thanks in advance. 

ButterCheese

You need to access the pipe underneath the sink.  it should be a white pipe with a U bend in it.  Unscrew it, take out all the rotting hair and gunk and wash it through.  It should unscrew from the bottom of your plughole which might also be gunked up.  Chemical products can only do so much, but taking out the blockages is a much more effective way of doing it.  If it still smells after that then the problem is further down the line, but it's usually the plughole and/or waste trap. Make sure you have a bowl or something underneath to catch the drips

CliveOfIndia

As above, the best way is to remove the u-bend and give everything a thorough clean - the u-bend itself, plus any other bits of pipe you can get to.  But it's the actual u-bend that's the most likely culprit, also very possibly the plughole (which will be easy to see/access once you've got the u-bend off.

Removing the u-bend isn't difficult - if your plumbing isn't from the Victorian era then it should simply unscrew by hand (although in a bathroom sink, getting your hands behind can sometimes be a bit of a fiddle).  Before you re-assemble it, make sure all the screw threads are nice and clean, and a thin smear of Vaseline on the threads doesn't go amiss to help lubricate things (but it's not essential).  It should only need doing up hand-tight.

ButterCheese said:

Unscrew it, take out all the rotting hair and gunk and wash it through.

But wash it in a different sink to the one you've just removed it from !

95% of the time that's all it needs - and it costs nothing apart from 10 minutes of your time to do it.

casper_gutman

CliveOfIndia said:

But wash it in a different sink to the one you've just removed it from !

Ah, that sounds like the voice of experience! We've all been there. ☹️

quartzz

Additional.....

Make a mental note that you've removed the U-bend. Turning the tap on and letting some water run, is so second nature, it's very easy to forget it'll go all over the floor. [yes, what Clive said. I was reminded by what you said, which was a response to what Clive said, which is what I said, after Clive said it]

John_the_Boy

Also try getting one of those very small & flexible bottle brushes or sink drain unblocker brushes down the overflow. I had a smell in a sink that kept returning. Turns out there was gunk stuck in the overflow that needed to be mechanically removed.

wurley

newbieni said:

Hi All,

I have an ongoing issue with a smell from the sink in the bathroom. I have tried a number of different plug cleaning products and whilst the smell goes away for a week or two, it always returns. It's a very unpleasant smell, akin to rotting eggs. Can anyone suggest a permanent fix?

Thanks in advance. 

It's likely that hair is the culprit.  It acts as a wick and all the water in the U-bend drains away, leaving drain smells to come through.  You can use a bathroom drain unblocker that desolves hair, or use a sink brush (like a thin bottle brush) to catch and remove it. 

RichardInDorset

newbieni said:

Hi All,

I have an ongoing issue with a smell from the sink in the bathroom. I have tried a number of different plug cleaning products and whilst the smell goes away for a week or two, it always returns. It's a very unpleasant smell, akin to rotting eggs. Can anyone suggest a permanent fix?

Thanks in advance. 

Probably blocked by people washing their hair over the basin.

I bought a cheap pack of plastic "sink snake drain hair removal tool" from Amazon for less than £5, it's a longish (24 inch/60cm) plastic rod with bits sticking out each side.

Pushed its full length into the basin drain, rotated it a few times and then pulled it out (as per instructions) and it pulled out a LOT of hair. 

Removed the hair and repeated a couple of times 'til no more hair came out, then used Bicarb and Spirit Vinegar to remove any remaining soap. They work really well.

quartzz

RichardInDorset said:

I bought a cheap pack of plastic "sink snake drain hair removal tool" from Amazon for less than £5, it's a longish (24 inch/60cm) plastic rod with bits sticking out each side.

Ah.....that's what the long plastic thing is in my bathroom when I moved in. I'd assumed it  was something to unclog the toilet