Please advise on the most practical way of removing clogged bathroom drainage. Can baking soda help? How?

Question

I bought liquid soza and it works but is there anything economical and practical ways where I can just use something reachable in my kitchen that I can use anytime the bathroom is clogged. They said baking soda does it good if mixed with something... is it vinegar or water? I'm a working woman and I have 2 girls keeping me company. There are only 3 of us at home and I am not so knowledgeable with house maintenance, so I solicit help from yahoo answers which solves my problems instantly. Thanks a lot. Yahoo answers is great.

Answer 1

Lee m had the best answer. However be sure to either plug the overflow hole, a finger works great, or a wet rag. Get a small plunger and add water in sink and then with both hands start plunging. You will always get wads of hair. Remove what comes out and continue until drain is clean. Be prepared to get wet from the splashing. Bath tubs are harder as it takes two people...one to hold a piece of plastic with a wet rag over the overflow drain. Almost 100 percent of basin and tub clogs are hair. Use one cup of ordinary bleach once a week in the drain overnight and it will dissolve any hair and keep your drains clean. I worked 15 years in a senior care facility and never had to call a plumber for a clogged sink or tub drain. Plungers work well in kitchen sinks too...just harder because of large drains.

Answer 2

You can plunge your kitchen sink. If it is two sided you need two people one to hold the drain cover down on the one side while the other person plunges the other side.

You can use chemicals but if you have a big clog, it is not so good as the chemicals can sit in one place and damage pipes plus if you later work on the pipes...you will have trouble.

You can try and clean the pipes with something called a snake. It is a coiled piece of metal thicker than a wire. You can enter it through the drain if no garbage disposal.

Otherwise, usually the trap is made to take apart for cleaning. The trap is the bend in the pipe that would catch, say, a ring if it fell down. That may be where the clog is. If it is further, you feed in the snake and shake it back and forth as you go. If you find resistance, you can then hopefully break it up.

Also, once my pipe was actually broken and it only seemed that it was clogged. You can tell this if when you plunge you get black crud up. This was going to be an expensive repair as they said they needed to dig up my basement. We saved lots of money by having them cut, cap off the pipe that ran under the floor and running a new pipe in the ceiling of our basement instead,

One last thing, if you do get it unclogged, to keep it unclogged...be careful what you let go down the drain and occasionally use a drain clearing product on a regular basis for prevention while there is still flow so you don't get the product stopped up!
Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I've never heard of baking soda, but what my dad and I use everytime we need to unclog the bathtub, kitchen sink, etc, is something called a snake. Basically, it's this long steel spring. You need a handheld drill too. You take the end of the snake that's not opened up and insert it into the drill and tighten it down. Then you take the snake, insert the other end into your pipes (we have an outside pipe that leads to the piping in our house), and use the drill to put it in. Experiment with the two directions on your drill. You'll need someone to help you feed in the snake. basically, one person spins the snake while the other feeds it in slowly. It's always worked for us. Literally, every single time. Make sure that the snake stays relatively straight while you're putting it in. You can get a snake at Home Depot. If it's a clogged toilet though, use a plunger haha :D Good luck!

Answer 4

a plunger would probably be most effective; get a small one for sinks, or a big one for toilets.

I've used baking soda and vinegar a few times. It works if there is a simple clog. Pour a bunch of soda in the drain, then add vinegar and cover the drain and overflow holes tightly. The soda and vinegar expand, pushing stuff down the pipes.

Answer 5

well the vinegar part would work like the old volcano experiment. when u mix baking soda and vinegar u get a little reaction. i guess its possible that it could help to clean the drains. never heard of it though. but try it out. no harm no foul

Answer 6

Washing soda maybe, but baking soda would not be as affective.

Answer 7

bicarbonate of soda can help with blocked drains...
so can boiling water....
you can mix the bi carb with water or vingar....