What can I do about the bad smell coming from my kitchen sink drain?

Question

It does not have a garbage disposal, and the drainage is not diminished - there is just a SMELL.

Answer 1

Pour half cup of baking soda in the sink, then pour 1 cup of white distilled vinegar down - it will bubble away, and will remove any bad smell.
You can repeat as often as you like - flush with running water afterwards.

Answer 2

First, I would say the smell is a symptom of a problem.

Try this. Put about 1/2 cup of baking soda in the sink and dump a cup of white vinegar into it to work on bubbling the problem out of the drain. After an hour or so run very hot water for several minutes and see if that helps.

You can do this in many of the drains to help flush out the line.

If you have a dishwasher, it may need cleaning. The bottom spinner in most all dishwasher will lift straight up and you can clean the screen under it.

Look at the spinners and see if the holes are clogged. Pick them out with a nut pick or toothpick to clean the junk out. Then put it back together.

You can run a couple of cups of White vinegar through a cycle and it will clean it considerably.

You may have trash in the elbow under the sink. Before putting anything into it . Put a bucket under it and open the two connections to the elbow and empty out any trash that might have collected.

Without a garbage disposal you must be very careful about garbage getting down the drain.

Good luck on the solution.

Answer 3

Having reviewed the answers already provided, I have the following thoughts:

1) Don't use bleach -- I did that once and it just gummed up the pipes and I had to use something else to clear them. Bleach can interact with some of the stuff that typically ends up in the pipes and plug it worse.
2) Common poor man's solution is to put lemon rinds in the garbage disposal (though, I see you do not have one). I would assume that lemon juice might have a similar effect if you do not, but if you are getting smell, it may be more than what lemon juice or lemon rind can address. Keep in mind that pouring lemon juice down the drain is not going to have a dramatic effect unless the problem is sludge in the trap, in which case, just clear the trap.
3) The smell is probably indicative of a larger sludge problem somewhere in the pipe. You can try a variety of solutions, but the poor man's solution I use is to use some of the enzymatic cleaners (commonly available at Wal Mart, Lowe's, and Home Depot) as a starting point. I have heard that baking soda will help, but I am hesitant to use it for the same reason that I do not get excited about pouring bleach down the drain. If those do not resolve, see #4.
4) Constant or recurring smell can be a sign of roots in the drain pipe, and it may require someone coming out and clearing the pipe with a cutter. Do not do this yourself unless you know what you are doing. I have also heard that there is some sort of acid you can pour down the pipes that will not tear up the pipes, but will eat away the roots, but I do not know what it is.

First step though is, determine the scale of the problem as best as possible. You may be treating the symptom and leaving thej problem intact.

Answer 4

pour one cup bleach into drain, let stand for 1-2 hours. Rinse. Pour 1/2 cup baking soda into drain and run water for about 15 seconds, let stand for one hour. That should end the smell problem today. BUT if the smell is coming from built up waste in the trap, use drain cleaner to instructions, and that will do it also. I would first check to make very sure there is a trap on that drain...under the sink, the drain should go into a looped pipe...if there is NO trap, you are smelling sewer gas...not safe, in fact dangerous. ALL drains must have a trap that has standing water to block off the sewer from the drain. Good luck

Answer 5

I have had some success with the following:
Cut a lemon in slices, squeeze the juice into two quarts of water. Drop the lemon slices in. Do the same with an orange (optional). Add some spices like cloves and/or cinnamon or whatever suits you. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Pour this hot broth through a strainer directly into the offending sink. Let it sit before flushing. The lemon juice helps cut the odor and the heat breaks things loose. Good luck. Baking soda helps too but the other also makes the house smell good.

Answer 6

Smelly Sink Drain

Answer 7

Bleaching your pee-trap will not fix the problem, but only mask the smell and may even damage your plumbing.

Most houses today have “PVC” plumbing (plastic) – under your kitchen sink you will find what looks like a sideways S shaped PVC pipe (in most cases “black”) with fittings. This is your pee-trap. You will notice that the fittings in the pee-trap come apart easily by hand.

Paying close attention, remove the ring holding the top of the pee-trap to the drain and then remove the bottom ring from below the pee-trap. You can then remove the pee-trap and remove whatever obstructions might be causing the smell.

Replace the pee-trap being sure that both retaining rings have sealed properly by running water down the drain.

If no obstructions have been found, you will need to make sure that your plumbing system is ventilated properly. That however, is an entirely different question. :)

Answer 8

If you have got a double sink block one drain of and fill that basin with water. Pour 1/4 cup of Bi-carb soda directly into the other drain followed by 1/2 cup of vinegar, immediately blocked the drain of and let it sit and work for about one hour or over night. Make sure the plug fits proper. Fill the basin with water. After the solution has done it's job let each basin drain. This mix does not only get rid of the smell but unblocks the drain too and it is better for the environment.

Answer 9

If it's draining ok I would flush it with the hottest water I could. After that I would pour a quart of bleach in and let it sit overnight and flush it again and see how it smells. If all is ok try a cup of bleach every week or so to maintain it. Don't put anything but dishwater down a drain without a garbage disposer.

Answer 10

The baking soda and vinegar recommended by so many is the best treatment for your smelly kitchen sink drain but if the drainage system is connected to a common drainage chamber, as in the case of apartments in a multi-level building, you need to ask maintenance service to clean out the chamber and treat that too.

Answer 11

Hi, I don't recommend using any drain opener. This is what I do - it's for clogged drains, but helps to keep them smelling fresh. First pour very hot water down the drain (about a quart will do). Then put 3 heaping tablespoons of baking soda down, followed by half a cup vinegar. When all the bubbling has stopped, rinse with hot water. None of this is bad for the pipes. Good luck