Plumbing Tips | July 9, 2024

Is Your Bathroom Sink Clogged? (Here’s 8 Ways To Fix That!)

Your bathroom sink being clogged can be a real inconvenience. It doesn’t have to be a difficult problem to fix, though. Using these DIY ways to fix the clog on your own can solve your problem in no time.

Follow along and learn about the many different ways to unclog a bathroom sink. A lot of the solutions can be provided to your right in the comfort of your own home!

A lot of these methods are easy and quick. If your drain needs cleared, these will come in handy to you when an immediate solution is needed.

Baking Soda and Vinegar

Using both of these products work in many different situations when it comes to clogs. The great thing about this is that these two products are found in your kitchen cabinets. This is an easy DIY fix when you have a clog that needs to be cleared.

Go ahead and mix ⅓ baking soda and ⅓ vinegar together and immediately pour it down the sink. The reaction that the baking soda and vinegar give off helps flush out anything that might be clinging to your pipes in your bathroom.

This picture shows a good representation of what happens when baking soda and vinegar are mixed together. This exact reaction is what happens inside your drain, causing the clog to be flushed out. 
This picture shows a good representation of what happens when baking soda and vinegar are mixed together. This exact reaction is what happens inside your drain, causing the clog to be flushed out. 

Using a Plunger

A plunger can help when a bathroom sink drain is clogged. Believe it or not, there are plungers that are specifically made for unclogging sink drains. Sink plungers have a wider mouth than a toilet plunger, which makes them more effective for clogs in sink drains. If you’d like to learn more about the difference between them, you can do that here.

The great thing about using a plunger to unclog a sink is that you use it the same way you would for a toilet. Just place it over the drain and repeatedly push down. Beware, this can cause clogs to back up out of the sink itself.

Plungers can be a quick and efficient way to solve a clog.

Enzymatic Drain Cleaners

These types of drain cleaners are much safer for your drains than chemical cleaners. Enzymatic drain cleaners are natural, environmentally safe drain cleaners that actually have bacteria that feed on organic waste material. For example, hair and food waste typically clog drains.

Enzymatic drain cleaners are not as readily available in stores as others. Another natural remedy to a clogged drain is using baking soda and vinegar. It works for most!

Use Boiling Water

Boiling water can be one of the ways you can clear a clog in your bathroom sink. Using boiling water has to be for a sink that isn’t already clogged and full of water. Otherwise, the water will have nowhere to go and overflow. Boiling water is great for bathroom sinks because it works best on material like soap scum.

You may need to repeat this a few times to get rid of the clog completely.

Use a Drain Snake

Using a drain snake can be a great tool to use for a clogged sink. A drain snake is specifically made for situations where your sink is clogged, but the clog is too deep into the drain pipe. Overall, this is your best bet at the end of the day.

This is a manual drain snake. For something like a sink clog, this would be reasonable to use here. They also have automatic drain snakes that can be used for clogs like this, or in a toilet or bathtub drain.

Drain snakes have a wire cable that is put down into the sink to navigate the clog and remove it. It has a wider wire on the end of it so it can clear the clog effectively. You turn a crank to maneuver the wire through the pipe until you feel that the clog has been removed.

Clean out the P-Trap

Sometimes the p-trap can cause the most issues when your bathroom sink is clogged. A p-trap is used to catch any extra debris that goes down the sink drain. This prevents future clogs in the rest of the pipe. It also stops any sewer gasses from passing into the home.

If the p-trap becomes too full of extra debris and material, water will not be able to pass through the drain correctly. Sometimes, unscrewing this from your sink and clearing it out is necessary. Make sure to put a bucket underneath the p-trap so it can catch whatever comes out of it.

The p-trap is a vital piece of your sink drain!

Use a Wet Dry Vacuum

Using a wet dry vacuum can be an easy way to clear a drain. All you do is put the vacuum into the drain entrance then turn the vacuum on to the highest setting. Typically, the clog will come up the drain and into the vacuum because of the force of the suction.

To turn a dry vac into a wet vac, make sure you remove the paper bag and paper filter inside the vacuum before using it to pick up water.

Call a Plumber

If worse comes to worse, you can always call a professional to come handle the problem for you. The benefit of this is that you will be reassured that a professional can do it correctly for you.

Final Thoughts

Is your bathroom sink clogged? Luckily, there are many DIY ways to unclog a bathroom sink drain. Although all of these ways are great, some might be better than others. If one doesn’t quite work for you, just try another method.

Usually some methods will solve the problem better than others. If you feel that nothing is working for you, always resort to a professional to take care of it for you.

Call 1-Tom-Plumber

Don’t hesitate to contact us or call us at 1-Tom-Plumber (1-866-758-6237) if you’d like help with your sink, toilet, or drain clog issues. Heck, we’ll even leave you with a free sink-style cup plunger after we’re done. We will immediately handle any emergency plumbing, drain, and water damage problem, including excavation of underground water lines and sewer main lines.

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