I live in a house with VERY temperamental pipes! Over the years we have had 3 floods in the basement and numerous backed-up sinks, showers and tubs — all due to clogs! That’s a lot of time, money and consternation! Needless to say clogged drains cause me a great deal of fear and loathing! That’s why whenever I run across a way to DEAL with them I am compelled to read about it, try it, and SHARE it! :-)
I was actually surprised to realize just how much sharing I’ve already done about clogged drains in the past on this blog. A quick search revealed FIVE home remedies I’ve already written about, and you can read the posts by clicking on the links.
Baking Soda and Vinegar
Empty one-half cup baking soda down the drain, followed by one-half cup white vinegar. Cover the drain and let mixture stand for a few minutes. Then pour a pot of boiling water down the drain. The baking soda and vinegar dissolve fatty acids, allowing the clog to wash down the drain.
Borax
Unclog drains with 1/2 cup of borax followed by 2 cups of boiling water. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then run your water for a few minutes to flush it out.
Dawn Dish Soap
A cup of Dawn detergent poured into a clogged toilet allowed to sit for 15 minutes and then followed with a bucket of hot water poured from waist height will clear out the toilet.
The Secret Plumber’s Trick
Fill a bucket with hot water. Pour the hot water down the toilet and the clog should be fixed in no time. The heat melts the fats in the “clog” & makes it all more flushable.
A Wet/Dry Vacuum
With the sink overflow hole blocked and a rag placed over the drain, press the end of your wet dry vacuum’s hose against the drain to form a tight seal. Then turn the vacuum on and let it do all the hard work for you!
All of these I have personally tried and have saved me countless plumber service calls! Not to mention they are inexpensive and non-toxic – unlike traditional drain cleaners that are EXTREMELY toxic!
Do you have any tips for dealing with clogged drains?
It was Thanksgiving. I had a house full of company and a house full of “helpers”. Someone had stuffed all the peelings from the potatoes, carrots and onions in the disposal and not run it. Then some grease was dumped from the turkey. Needless to say after dinner when I attempted to start washing everything I had the worst clog. we had to bail all the water out of the sink and my husband had to take the disposer and the pipes apart to clean it out. Not a pretty sight.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Why do these things always happen on major holidays with lots of “helpers”???? lol!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Remember Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down???? Well, throw a few of them in the toilet, flush and you will find out they don’t go “down” that way either!! That was when I was little and my brother was naughty. Then he grew up but he was still naughty. :-)
Now I’m raising my neice — a dreaded teen with long hair!! This product sounds awesome!! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Two weeks ago my kitchen sink became very slow. So what did I do? I pulled this blog up and tried some of the suggestions. They were not working and I was afraid I was going to have to call the plumber. Then I realized it was slow when the dishwasher was running and at that my dishes were also not coming out as clean. I got on Pintrist and pulled up both subjects. Two hours later I had my dishwasher taken apart and YUK!!! You would not believe the things I pulled out!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh yeah. Keeping your dishwasher clean is a major component to keeping your kitchen drain clear!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.While house setting for my Aunt, my son flushed the toilet and everything backed up into the bathtub! So my sister and I ended up digging up her backyard to find the pipe to her septic tank clogged with roots from a nearby tree. We fixed it! Never underestimate the power and determination of two women with a shovel!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.haha! I never would! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Wow, now those are some stories! I only have the regular boring stories like taking a shower in the morning only to find that same water standing in the tub when I got home at the end of the day. See, I told you it was boring!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My daughters hair is almost to her waist and I am constantly using a slim brush to drag the hair out of bath drain. Nice to hear that the DrainWigs do indeed work. I will be ordering these ASAP.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Actually dealing with this issue right now. With 5 people in the household the shower gets a good workout. Most of the time it’s twice a day showers. The tub drain has been clogging up so badly that it takes 30 min for it to drain after a shower. I had an old dental instrument I try to use to grab hair out of the drain but if course it doesn’t reach far enough down. The other day the little ones (6 and 4) took showers right after each other. By the time they were done water was over the tub and all over the floor of course they thought it was “fun” Would love to try out this new product.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We had a clogged toilet in a bathroom. I tried all of the home remedies, including hot water and plunging, but nothing worked. We called Roto Rootr and the technician eventually pulled a dead bird out. He suspected that he flew down the vent on the roof and in trying to get out went through the toilet trap and got caught. He had never seen anything like it in his entire career.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m fixing dinner one night as my kids are coming over & I’m preparing the potatoes, etc (I have a garbage disposal so in leaving the potatoe peeling in their) .. I go to use it and at first its working fine and everything is going smooth dinner is almost prepared and I’m trying to clean out the sink only to find the sink isn’t draining I’m going into a panic because at this point I have no clue what to do other then to call for maintenance & pray they get there before my kids . I now know what to do next time & with all these helpful tips its a win win situation :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.After several clogs and floods I finally learned not to trust my garbage disposal! Now almost everything does into the garbage or gets composted!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The kid’s tub in our last house slowly but surely started to drain slower and slower until one day it wouldn’t drain at all. We poured bottle after bottle of smelly drain stuff down and nothing worked! Finally my husband unscrewed the plug and was able to pull out the plastic necklace that was causing all the fuss!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Never having to touch hair from a drain again would be awesome!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have 5(!) girls. Doesn’t that say it all?!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We had my sister and family over for dinner and noticed water running down the wall over our cabinets in the kitchen. We then found out that her young son was usually constipated and had clogged up our toilet upstairs. It was not an fun task to clean every dish in that cabinet before we could eat!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This product sounds awesome and just what I need. I have never had long hair in my life but a year ago I decided to let it grow out.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Now I have long hair everywhere. I have had to call a Plummer due to this and it was very costly.
The DrainWig sounds like the answer to my problem.
The DrainWig looks and sounds simple.
Why is it that the simplest of ideas are always the best ones!
Thanks for the chance to win and try this great product.
Thank you Jillee for sharing these! We HAD a drain in the shower that always clogged and by the end of the shower I had enough water for a bath! I used the baking soda and vinegar trick and it worked! Now onto the drawings! Oh…and the EO closet sachets with the cotton balls worked too!I used Lemon…..Love ya Jillee!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Drainwigs….Got a solution for autocorrect? Haha
Please log in or create a free account to comment.hehe. I wish! :-)
Oh my gosh what wonderful ideas. I have older pipes and it seems like I’m always giving my husband bad news when he comes home from work about this or that is backed up. Thanks so much for sharing these tips.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When my nephew was little he clogged the toilet by putting a toothbrush down it! Talk about hard to get out!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Our house was hit by a tornado and we were renting an apartment while the house was repaired. The toilet clogged the first night. The plumber was called and it turns out the drain line to the sewers was going uphill. I don’t know if you remedies would have fixed that one lol
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m afraid I can’t help you there! lol. We actually have a similar problem with our pipes and that is why they are SO temperamental!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You need (probably, as really it needs to be seen), and would do well to, install a holding tank with a pump that activates when the tank is (almost) full. It would likely involve a tank in your basement or even under your basement floor (and no, it wouldn’t smell) :]
A good plumber could advise you simply by testing the levels and seeing how much of a slope you have up-hill, then could tell how much of a pump you would need.
Our worst clogs were always when one of my brothers was still at home and couldn’t seem to do his bms without the toilet clogging.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I would love one of the hair wig gadgets. We recently remodeled the main bathroom, and tub
There’s no way we could take the mechanism that holds,the water in out. I do have long hair and have been able to remove them in the past.
But, not with this new drain.
I haven’t had an overflow yet but I clog the drain constantly because my hair is so long and thick! I only knew about draino! Its so gross toe to stand in a shower with water gathering in the bottom! Bleh! These are GENIUS!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.That happened to me once with a slow moving drain. I was complaining to my sister and she said “look at the positive side, your feet are getting a good soaking!” That helped until it was fixed. :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love the idea of the DrainWig! I couldn’t believe what I pulled out of my drain one time by trying to reach an old toothbrush down there to catch it and pull it out. It was unbelievable! I didn’t even know they made something like this–I can’t wait to tell my friends and family about this! Thanks for sharing this and offering the giveaway!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Wow….why didn’t I think of inventing something like the Drainwig! My husband can’t believe how much hair one woman can lose in a shower!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.OMG, OGT!! I just read and couple dozen of these plumbing tales – any personal tale of mine could never compete. I am just grateful that you introduced me to the drain wig ,can’t wait to find some online and start using ASAP!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This product sounds great!!! I will have to get some for sure! I’ve always had long very thick hair, despite the fact that it comes out in handsfuls every day…something I will never understand :/ so we always have this issue. Our sons bathtub seems to get clogged fast also…poor kid basically stands in a full bathtub while he tries to hurry and finish his shower before it get too full! And the drain is so difficult to undue that we can hardly get into it. But one of these may help! :) thanks for the post!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My worst clogged drain happened when my precious Huuby & I came home from a business dinner on night and our oldest son had decided to see how much he put down the bathtub drain. He filled it up, turned on the water and closed the door behind him as he left. We “discovered” the locked bathroom door and a very wet bathroom 30 minutes later when we came home. When we finally got the bathroom door unlocked we turned off the water and found out the drain was plugged. We cleaned it up as best we could and called a plumber. The plumber came out the next day and here is a list, as best as I can remember…..3 arms, 2 broken legs, and 2 heads of a G.I. Joe doll (never could find the other body parts that went with 1 head and arm…R.I.P. G.I. JOE!) several small Lego pieces, in several color, umpteen marbles, some loose change, and the lids to several bottles of perfume. The plumber also showed me globs of hair that came up with the other “stuff”.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My precious little angel that did this “experiment” just turned 29! I think I will remind him about this with a call today! While it wasn’t funny at all then, it’s now brings a smile to my face remembering how adventurous he was, and still is!
Blessings ~ Linda
LOL! I literally laughed out loud at this Linda! Thanks for sharing!!!
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