Boiling water helps to dissolve and loosen blockages, particularly when they have been caused by a buildup of grease. Make sure you only pour boiling water into pipes made of metal or ceramic, and not PVC, as PVC can actually be warped and melted by extreme heat.
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. While you may solve an immediate pain point, the water can cause the grease to move down the drain and stick to the side of the drain.
You can pour the water down the drain without removing the shower drain cover. Do not pour boiling water down PVC pipes, which can be damaged by the heat. This simple fix may or may not work, but it's worth a try. After the boiling water goes down the drain, run some water in the shower to see if the clog has cleared.
What Happens When You Pour Boiling Water Down The Kitchen Sink? PVC pipes can withstand heat but not water temperatures as high as 100 degrees C. So, regularly subjecting your kitchen pipeline to boiling water will only soften or melt its joints (usually held together with glue).
This can melt PVC piping and pipe seals, causing serious damage. In addition, using boiling water to clear a clogged toilet can melt the wax ring around the toilet, or even crack the porcelain bowl, leading to a pricey trip to your favorite hardware store.
The best way to clean the bathroom sink drain is by using salt and baking soda mixed together, as well as vinegar and boiling hot water.
Once a week, flush your drain by boiling a large pot of water. Pour one-half of the pot down the drain. Wait five minutes and pour the rest. It's a simple thing that can help dislodge any grease or debris lurking in your drain.
For tough clogs, use a full cup. While that sits, bring a half pot of water (about 4 cups) to boil. Pour this directly into the drain very slowly but steadily to avoid getting burned by splashing water. Allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then run water down the drain to check how freely water flows.
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.
Pouring boiling water down the drain to unclog it most likely won't work. Sure, there's a very small chance it could loosen the clog, but there's a larger risk of softening or melting PVC joints.
Even Worse…
Since boiling reduces the volume of water, it increases the concentration of contaminants—taking it from bad to worse. The viruses, bacteria, and parasites are gone, but other dangerous contaminants are there to stay if you don't do more to protect yourself.
Stay ahead of erosion and corrosion by having your pipes inspected annually. Also, keep in mind that hot water has the potential of causing the soil around your outdoor pipes to move, which can damage and even break the pipes.
Ceramic sinks can also withstand very high temperatures so you don't need to worry about pouring boiling water on them and are resistant to chemicals so no need to worry about keeping household cleaning products away from them.
Baking soda, vinegar and boiling water can help clean drains naturally, but you may need something stronger, like Liquid-Plumr, to fully unclog those really tough drain clogs.
A natural remedy of white distilled vinegar and baking soda can be just as effective, depending on the state of the clog. Pour 1 cup of baking soda into the drain, followed by 1 cup of vinegar. Plug the drain using a drain stop or rag, and allow the mixture to work its magic for at least an hour.
Salt and hot water work best on grease or soap clogs. The hot water melts the grease that's narrowing the pipes. The salt acts as a natural scouring agent forcing the build-up out.
Hot water will break down the grease better and when aided by a cleaning agent, grease is a goner. While cold-water jetting can bust through a blockage, you will not truly clean a pipe and rid it of the FOG buildup unless you clean it with hot water.
Run some hot water down your drain – If you see a clog starting to take place, try running a little bit of hot water down your drain. This likely won't help solve the problem permanently, but it may dislodge any small items that are stuck.
You can clean most bathroom sinks using a general bathroom cleaning spray and a soft cloth. For a gentler option, use mild dish detergent or distilled white vinegar mixed with water to cut through grime.
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.
You should schedule professional cleanings for your drains yearly even if they don't appear to need it and aren't blocked. In addition to annual professional cleaning for drains, maintain your drains weekly and monthly by performing certain care tasks.
To be on the safe side, always use heat-resistant glass pitchers for your hot beverages. Typically constructed of borosilicate glass, which is known to have a very low thermal expansion coefficient, they are more resistant to thermal shock than other glassware. They will not break under extreme temperature changes.