It is safe to leave baking soda (and vinegar) to work overnight to unclog a drain. Always flush this mixture down with boiling water—no matter how long you leave it sitting in the drain.
You can also pour vinegar down the drain on its own.
Pour about 1 cup of vinegar down your drain and let it sit for 30-40 minutes.
Vinegar is both safe and beneficial to pour down your drain. It acts as a natural cleaning solution and can remove blockages and harmful bacteria that cause foul odors.
Maintenance. Jones suggests pouring very hot water down the kitchen sink drain at least once a week. This can help prevent clog-causing buildup on the interior surface of pipes. Or you can pour one cup of vinegar down the drain and let it sit for 30 minutes, followed by a rinse with two quarts of very hot water.
Harsh chemical drain unclogging solutions can actually be abrasive enough to make your pipes leak after the clog is dissolved. Instead considering pouring a half bottle of white vinegar down your drain every three months to keep clogs from forming.
Let hot water run for a minute to warm up the pipes. Drop in 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain. Pour in 1 cup of vinegar, cover the drain with a plug and let sit for 10 minutes – you will hear fizzing. Rinse with more hot water.
You can also deodorize drains and help smelly drains with a combination of baking soda and vinegar. These ingredients, when used together, can also sometimes help to clear drain clogs.
Vinegar contains acid which neutralizes odor, cuts through grease and helps disinfect. By heating up (but not boiling) four cups of vinegar, pouring half down the drain, running the water for a minute and then pouring the remaining vinegar down the drain, you can help eliminate smells and smaller clogs.
To address one of the most common trends when unclogging a drain at home- is it safe to pour boiling water down the drain? Though you may find mixed answers to this question, experienced plumbers strictly advise against this action.
Pouring Boiling Water Down the Kitchen Sink
As such, you will damage your pipeline before loosening the clogs. There are a few DIY methods you can resort to, like using a plunger or drain snake to remove clogs. Or simply avoid disposing of grease and oil down the sink to prevent any blockage.
Preventative Maintenance
Pouring bleach into the drain when the unit is not operating can leave residual bleach, which will damage the drain pan and line. Using vinegar for preventative maintenance throughout the year will keep your drain clean and clear and will not damage your line.
When you are using a baking soda and vinegar solution to clean out your drain, you are actually causing the rubber and plastic that are used for the drain's pipes to be eaten away by the mixture. Over time, this rubber and plastic will break down, causing the drain to become even more blocked.
Pour a mixture of 1 cup vinegar (apple cider vinegar works best) and 1 cup boiling water down the drain. (Substitute lemon juice for vinegar for a great-smelling drain ? Plug the drain to keep the vinegar baking soda reaction below the drain surface. Flush the drain once more with 4 cups of boiling water.
While hot water can help loosen up debris, coarse salt actually scours the inside of your pipes, removing more material than hot water alone. After removing standing water from the sink, pour about half a cup of table salt down the drain before you pour in the hot water.
Baking soda, vinegar, and hot water are amazing home remedies when it comes to cleaning and destroying smells. You can start by running as much hot water into smelly drains as your water bill can stand. The hot water loosens matter effectively, which will promote flushing if there isn't a substantial clog.
Boiling Vinegar
Boil 4 cups of white vinegar and pour half down the drain. Flush pipe with cold tap water to solidify any lingering gunk, then pour the rest of the boiling vinegar to wash it out.
Dump a good handful of baking soda into the drain, let sit (don't run any water) for 15 minutes, then pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup white vinegar down. Watch the bubbles, hear the pops and fizz, and let it sit for another 15 minutes. Then, boiling water and voila! It will be right as rain … at least for about six weeks.
'Leave a bowl of vinegar out overnight,' advises Saskia Gregson-Williams, cookbook author and founder of Naturally Sassy. 'In the morning, the vinegar will have absorbed all the unsavory smells and your kitchen will be as fresh as a daisy. '
A slow-draining sink clogged with ordinary hair and soap scum can build up bacteria in the P-trap until your bathroom sink smells like rotten eggs.
Less is more with any cleaning product, including vinegar. Use the least amount of vinegar you can get away with to minimize smells. If you use a light hand with the vinegar, the aroma will go away on its own in 30 to 60 minutes, particularly on solid surfaces. If it's on a soft surface, it may take a day or so.
Monthly Is The Way To Go
By using methods that incorporate baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water, you can ensure that your drains are working properly for days, months, and years to come without major work or an emergency call.
The answer is that vinegar will not harm your pipes if used in small doses as recommended in many of the recipes that you find online. No matter what your pipes are made of, pex, pvc, copper, etc. Vinegar will not harm your water pipes.