3 Surprisingly Natural Ways to Keep Your Sinks Clean and Unblocked

Table of Contents

1. Why Drain Cleaner Shouldn’t be Your First Option
2. Quick and Easy Ways to Keep Your Sink Unblocked[+]
   1. Boiling Water & Dish Soap
   2. Baking Soda & Vinegar
   3. Use a Wire Coat Hanger
3. Tips to Prevent your Sinks from Getting Blocked[+]
   1. Kitchen sink
   2. Bathroom Sink
4. Final Thought

Blocked drains are among the most annoying home emergencies homeowners have to deal with at some point. As luck will have it, these types of emergencies have the nasty habit of happening when you have guests over!

If blocked sinks are a common problem in your home, you might have a corner on your cleaning shelf dedicated to an assortment of drain cleaners. In fact, blocked drains are the most common reasons to call the emergency plumber Sunshine Coast residents to rely on!

Why Drain Cleaner Shouldn’t be Your First Option

If you have a blocked sink, a burst of drain cleaner might seem like a godsend. People resort to them because they work fast. There’s something satisfying about the fizzy sound of disintegration of gunk happening in your sink. What you might not realize though, the drain cleaner is destroying more than just the gunk.

Synthetic drain cleaners work because they have sodium hydroxide or sulfuric acid in them. These potent chemicals disintegrate the giant clogs caused by oil, soap, leftover food, or hair in the case of your bathroom sink.

However, they may also be eating away at your plumbing! Whether your plumbing pipes are made of plastic or metal they are at risk of being damaged by these harsh chemicals. When this happens, you’ll have more than just a clogged sink to contend with.

Quick and Easy Ways to Keep Your Sink Unblocked

Believe it or not, there are a wide variety of natural ways to keep your sinks clean and unblocked.

Here are a few of the more effective ways to avoid harsh chemicals:

Boiling Water & Dish Soap

Depending on how clogged your drain is, this method might take a few applications, but it’s the perfect way to clean greased-up kitchen sinks.

• Boil 2L of water & mix in 4 tablespoons of liquid dish soap
• Slowly pour down the sink
• Repeat a few times if necessary as this method heats the grease till it’s a liquid, making it easy to wash out

Baking Soda & Vinegar

Baking soda and vinegar have been effective drain cleaners since your grandmother’s days, with good reason. Both baking soda and vinegar are effective cleaners.

• Rinse the sink with boiling water
• Put ½ cup of baking soda down the drain
• Follow that with ½ cup white vinegar
• Put the plugin in the sink and let it sit for about an hour
• Unplug the drain and pour about 2L of boiling water down
• Pour additional boiling water if the drain still seems blocked

Use a Wire Coat Hanger

Have you ever wished you could just reach into the drain and pull the gunk out? Or at the very least, loosen it enough to get it flowing again? The good news is you can. And it won’t cost a fortune.

• Simply straighten a wire coat hanger out but leave the hook part as it is
• Use the hook part of the hanger to loosen anything stuck on the sides of the drain
• Wear rubber gloves and have a dustbin close by to throw out anything you fish out
• Rinse the sink with a baking soda and vinegar mix afterward
• Wash your coat hanger tool with some dish liquid to keep it bacteria-free
• Use this hook together with your plunger to keep kitchen and bathroom sinks clean

Tips to Prevent your Sinks from Getting Blocked

Let’s call a spade a spade. Clogged sinks don’t “just” happen. They happen because of the things we pour (or allow to run) into them. Sometimes it might be easier to just pour something down the sink than having to deal with it properly.

Read on for a few tips that will avoid your kitchen or bathroom sink from getting blocked:

Kitchen sink

• Never pour cooking oil or grease into the sink
• Scrape leftovers off plates and into the garbage bin before putting plates in the sink
• If you use a garbage disposal, remember there isn’t an award for filling it up, use your dustbin!
• Pour boiling water down the sink at least once a day to wash away any gunk build-up
• Use ice cubes to sharpen your garbage disposal blades
• Add small pieces of lemon or orange peels to the garbage disposal for a fresher smell

Bathroom Sink

• Place a hair trap in your bathroom sinks, showers, and tubs
• Clean any hair build up out often, take it out, and throw it in the dustbin
• Pour boiling water down the sinks to wash away soap scum and toothpaste
• Keep a plunger in the bathroom – plunge at least once a week, even if there are no blockages as this will force out any gunk build-up

Final Thought

With some extra precautions and a change of bad habits, you’ll have fewer blocked sinks and drains to deal with. Use natural methods to give your drains a good cleaning, and remember to take it easy with the harsh chemicals!

Thank you for reading!