Use hot water Simply pouring hot water down your kitchen and bathroom sink drains once a week can go a long way. For the kitchen sink, hot water will help melt and flush away light grease deposits. Bathroom drains benefit from very hot water because it can remove excess residue and gunk.
Two to three times a year, flush the drain with baking soda and vinegar. Run hot water down the drain. Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of vinegar with the hot water down the drain. This combo foams up and removes debris, and it also helps kill bacteria and remove odors.
Once a month or so, throw a handful of baking soda in your sink drain and chase it with a kettle full of hot water. Baking soda is a powerful odor absorber and cleaning agent, which may help prevent drain buildup.
Remember the 1:2 ratio: one part baking soda to two parts white vinegar. Pour the baking soda down the drain, then slowly add the white vinegar. Wait 15 minutes for the bubbling duo to do its thing.
While the baking soda and vinegar solution is effective in breaking down a clog, it will also cause your drain to become more damaged. The baking soda's abrasive nature will wear down your drain over time. This is why you should avoid using baking soda and vinegar solution for cleaning out your drain.
Vinegar. 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.
You can use a bent wire or a hair catching brush to clear out those pipes and prevent clogs, but table salt and vinegar are just as effective in these pipes. Pour one tablespoon (possibly more, if needed) of salt down the drain, and then dump ¼ cup of plain white vinegar down the drain.
Do not pour cooking fats, oils and grease (FOG) down any drains or toilets. FOG will clog sewer pipes, which can then cause costly sewer overflows and basement backups.
That black substance that keeps seeping into your sink or toilet is usually bacteria that's clinging to waste in your drain lines. This bacteria tends to grow and spread over time, particularly because the matter that goes down these drains is organic in nature, providing a food source for the bacteria to live on.
The black matter coming out of your sink drain might be caused by a clog. Most clogs comprise of biological matter. As such, bacteria thrives in the clog, thereby turning it black. You can use an auger or plunger to clear the clogs and stop the black debris from backing up through the sink drainage.
The black stuff has many names, such as black sludge, bio-slime, and biofilm. The slime is a living organism made up of hair products, skin cells, body oils, food, toothpaste, hair, phlegm, and anything else that can stick to the walls of your bathroom drain.
Weekly Cleaning
When you think about all the food and grease your kitchen sink sees on a daily basis, it makes sense that drains should be cleaned as often as once a week. In fact, we implore you to add DIY drain cleaning to your weekly chore list right now.
Annually. Even if you don't notice any specific signs that your drains are having trouble with clogs, you should do your best to have them cleaned at least once every year.
Product A was the most effective product at disinfecting sink drains but its effect disappeared at 5 days post-disinfection. These results suggest that treating sink drains every 5 days with a hydrogen peroxide mixture would be ideal for healthcare facilities dealing with sink drain contamination.
“I use the time-honored baking soda and vinegar trick. 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!
Kitchen sink drains clog when cooking grease or oil cake onto drain pipe walls. Add detergent soap scum and un-dissolved food particles (such as rice which expands in water), and you've got a stubborn, gunky clog.
Pour one cup of baking soda followed by one cup of table salt, and then pour a cup of white vinegar. Wait for ten minutes and then flush it with boiling water. After that, the drain should be clear!
Baking Soda & Vinegar
Clear the area around your sink and put a 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain. Follow that with a 1/2 cup of vinegar. Now plug your drain and let it sit for an hour. Then, unplug the drain and pour a pot of boiling water down it.
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.
Pouring boiling water is quite risky as it might lead to a steam burn or scalding. Another thing to keep in mind is what type of material you are pouring in into. If you have a porcelain sink, it is likely to crack due to the heat. All in all, pouring boiling water down your drain will only cause issues down the road.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a kitchen staple that can work wonders to clean clothes, appliances, and even drains that are smelly or clogged. A naturally occurring mineral compound, baking soda can dissolve mineral deposits and organic materials such as grease.