Cleaning bathroom sink plugholes/drain!

genny

Our bathroom sink plughole has become really slow to drain, and I don't fancy taking the trap apart and cleaning all the filth from it. What is the best way (or product) to use to clear it back to it's free draining newness?

All the products in supermarkets seem to be £3 and £4, which is ok if they work, but I've tried them before in the kitchen and found them to be useless.

Started with boiling water this morning, but it's made no difference, I assume most of the goo is down to toothpaste.

Tips please!

sooz

You want to go to the old style board.

white vinegar & bicarbonate of soda shoud clear it. 3 large tablespoons of bicarb downt he offending plughole, top with a cup of white vinegar, wait for it to fizz, then pour a kettle of just boiled water down.

unhappybuuny79

im a big fan of caustic soda for things like that, just pour a large cap full down the plughole and leave for 30 mins then run the tap to clera. i do it every couple of weeks to ensure the buildup doesnt build up...

genny

Thanks will try vinegar and bicarb first, and if that doesn't work, we'll go for caustic soda!

Any idea how to get the thread moved to the old style board?

andrew-b

If access isn't a problem i'd just open up the trap and clean it out that way. That would be by far the cheapest and most effective solution! No point just chucking your money down the drain!

Also be careful what chemicals you use...they could damage the surface of your sink ...especially if it's a plastic or composite sink. Always read the labels on the bottles!

Andy

genny

Depends how much your time is worth It took 3 hours the last time, hence the request for a chemical (or natural) solution. Difficult to access, and even with the trap removed, the down pipe from the sink to the trap was almost impossible to clear, I won't go into the smell, errruk!

Sink is a traditional one, so should be ok... vinegar it is...

genny

Have to say Caustic Soda was amazing.

Vinegar and bicard had no effect.

Mixed it up, poured it down, in 15 minutes it was absolutely clear and sparkling.

£3 for a bottle of the crystals, and I've only used half of them. Terrific.

bookduck

if you pipe inside is grotty, you want to pour normal salt down to saturate the water.

Then a mixture of rough rock salt mixed with bicarb and you push a GOOD bit down the hole and pack it out a fair bit . Find and hold the plug. Now add vinegar and quickly put and hold the plug in. The whole thing should fizz and expand scraping and projecting the rock salt along the walls of the pipe. Wait a minute and add more vinegar.

flush with water and now use caustic soda

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Caustic Soda is by far the best. It's evil stuff and I had a 10 minute lecture from the old boy in the DIY shop about how to use it safely, but it works. (having said that, I always try to clear the blockages manually first - a wire coathanger is a brilliant tool where pipes are concerned)

It only costs around a pound where Mr Muscle et al are nearer £3. I prefer to use the granules rather than the ready diluted stuff.

Just don't leave it on the sink itself as it can damage the fittings (brass plugholes for example or metal sinks)

Wear gloves and follow the instructions to the letter and you won't be disappointed.

warren_1

:TThere's a new invention out called Thuraplug (Thorough plug) and it's brilliant, i saw a video about it on you tube, Iv'e just cleaned all my plugholes with it, and iv'e cleaned my overflow, the plugholes are really clean and don't smell any more, and the overflow had black bits in it, i think these were germs, they have compleatly vanished, i got my Thuraplug from a website, i typed in plugholecleaner, it's going to save a fortune on expensive thick bleach.