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?
OH Boy! Clogs are NO fun..and I have to say this one surprised me. I was doing laundry, and the washer began it’s spin..I heard a noise from the back of the house by the spare bathroom.. The pipes had “backed up” with no warning…..and the water traveled backwards and up & out from the toilet 50 ft away and was like a gusher – water was coming down the hallway like a mountain stream! Oh boy- I ran to shut off the washer. which finally stopped it. Many towels had to be thrown away- and a plumber was called. It was horrific to say the least! Now when the washer spins, I listen out for a flood! It really was a surprise that it could happen like that! The plumber said “I have seen it all”
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh my! I am now CRYING with laughter reading all of these stories!! hahahaha
Please log in or create a free account to comment.WOW, I need this miracle product like people need air.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My home is made up of females with long hair.
This could even save the marriage, my poor husband has to end up cleaning the drains.
Thank you,
Inez
We have frequent problems with pipes clogging = so much so that we have the routine down pat for opening the pipe in the cellar and snaking the pipes. fortunately it ever involves a toilet, only gray water. The worst part is it always seems to happen when company is coming =one Easter I had to wait to do dishes until everyone left and we could take the pipes apart.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Love reading your posts, thanks for the great tips.
I may win this contest by sheer numbers of humans (and animals) with hair!
My husband and I am a house parent for 9 at risk middle school boys, plus one long haired behavioral specialist and two dogs. Our plumbing works overtime.
Clogs of all sorts are a common and never pretty. One time a boy had a midnight episode and didn’t wake up enough to report it. Just picture the next morning mayhem when all 9 needed to use that bathroom! That drain gadget would save us time and time again in the sinks and showers.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When our children were young, we came home after a day of work to find that the downstairs toilet had continued to run all day, filling the main level of the house with a nice coating of water. Such a fun night that was!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have 3 daughters with waist length hair. Any more info needed?
Thanks
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We seem to always have a clogged toilet! I am thankful for these ideas as I HATE to plunge!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Will be buying these, but would be nice to win some too!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m with nearly everyone else… Hair is the worst! My daughter has had long hair her entire life. She is in college now and the only time we get relief from the clogged shower drain is when she is there. This little gadget would be such a blessing!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hair in the drain is one of the grossest cleaning jobs going. It truly gags me. My three cats also,contribute to my clogged drains. They like to play on the shower. I live in a remote area and hope I can find the item at Home Depot. I’ll also check Amazon. What a clever product. Thanks for posting
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Carol, I’m with you! TRULY gags me too! LOL.
Here is the link for Amazon: DrainWig
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We have a drain in our upstairs tub that our teen daughter uses that never seems to drain properly. We have tried a number of things to get it working, but about the best solution we have found so far is to haul our garden hose up through the window and flush it with a really strong burst of water a couple of times a year. Perhaps a drain wig would prevent us from having to do that…that would certainly be a plus!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Need desperately! We spent a lot of money on a new tub and surround and now the tub drain is clogged and we can’t fix the problem. I have tried everything from baking soda and vinegar to a thin plastic thingy that you slide down the drain. Nothing has worked. I am counting on the Drainwig to solve my tub problem.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I bought an old home and for years I put up with a very slow draining shower/tub, tried drain cleaners, nothing worked. Finally had it snaked and it looked like 60 years worth of hair had built up. I have long hair and could certainly use a drain wig!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I don’t know whether it’s jyst me or if everybody else experiencing issues with your site.
It appears as though some of the written text on your content are running off the screen. Can somebody else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them too?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This may be a problem with my web browser
because I’ve had this happen previously. Kudos
I’m not having any problems with this site. Sorry you are. What browser are you using? If they need to do some troubleshooting, they’ll need to know that.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My worst clogged drain story is from a night I spent at my sons aoartment. He lives with 2 room mates, both have very long hair. In the morning when I was showering I found myself standing in an increasingly rapidly riding tub of water. Thinking I would help, after my shower, I removed the drain cover and pulled out the largest,most disgusting wad of soap covered hair ball I had ever seen. It was truly gag worthy! The kids were thrilled I had fixed a problem that even a chemical drain cleaner wouldn’t touch. They NEED this DrainWig! What a brilliant invention.!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This happened just a week at my sister’s house. My niece’s graduation open house was on a Saturday. We were using the half bath off her garage that she rarely used since buying the house a couple years ago. An hour or so in, someone noticed water on the floor and a check of pipes in the basement, water there too. My Mr Fix-it husband got the task of trying to unclog her sewer pipe. But no avail. After a call to a plumber, there was still no solution. Finally found out her septic tank was full.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.What is it with kids and flushing just about anything? My big one never did it but my little one made up for it. The worse was army men as those suckers wedged themselves in there something good. Even after we thought it had been unclogged it would start up again. Had to have the toilet removed to get them, yes I said them, out. Six in total. What a nightmare. Thankfully those fun times have passed. Now the battle is getting him to flush the toilet! Talk about full circle!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When my son was 4 years old, we were staying at a hotel when he used too much toilet paper to clean himself up after going #2. This was unbeknownst to us since the toilet flushed fine for him. However, I was the lucky person to use the bathroom after him and when I flushed the toilet the water did not stop coming and it came fast. The water overfilled the bowl quickly and flooded the bathroom and it was seeping out into the main living room of our suite. We had to completely change rooms but my son was completely mortified and somehow developed a fear of hotels (not toilets, thank goodness) for the next few years after that incident.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.the hairs i think are the worst scenario, i even though to go and have a short haircut…..i couldn’t stop pushing out hairs, I had enough to knit a scarf!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.wow, I would love to win one of the little flower hanging-down to the drain to help catching the hair. It will be the biggest friend for me, because I have long hair all my life, I have problem now with my falling hair as I am getting older. Thanks for the chance to win this lovely gadget.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My worst drain clog story like most occurred when expecting guests over. But it was just you usual flush the toilet and notice that the sound wasn’t quite right. Turned to watch it about to go over the edge. I quickly did what any other daughter of a plumber would do, I pulled the lid off of the tank and pushed down on the flapper. It stopped the water from going into the tank and averted a minor/major problem. I used the plunger to unclog the toilet, but when ever guests went into use the facilities I listened to make sure ther was any problems.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We used rent the upper flat of a house. When my older daughter was a toddler, I went into the bathroom just in time to see a huge, over-sized pair of plastic sunglasses get flushed down the toilet! The landlord was NOT happy!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have had long hair most of my life. While I put it in a ponytail or bun every day, I seem to lose an insane amount of it. Giant Dust Bunnies in every corner which need sweeping daily – check. Need to clean my hair brush frequently – check. Need to clean the insane muskrat-sized hairballs out of my drains frequently – check. From the color, it’s got to be me. Long and short – I need help.
My funniest drain story is not hair related. When I was a teenager, I was babysitting two boys and they wouldn’t eat their lunch. Having always grown up in a home with a garbage disposal, I assumed it was standard in a home. So after pouring two bowls of Spaghetti O’s down the drain, the sink was plugged. Suddenly there was a rumble and the kitchen pipes exploded – sending a barrage of Spaghetti O’s and water all over the floor. The kitchen was trashed. Thankfully, we lived only a few blocks away and my folks came over to help clean up the mess. Turns out the owner knew her pipes were bad and had an appointment for a plumber in a few days. I guess I just sped up the process. Talk about a nightmare! It must be why the memory is so strong even 20 years later. Lesson learned – always check for a garbage disposal before putting food down a sink.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh my!! Yes, these memories tend to be burned in our memories forever! ;-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I mainly just deal with the shower hair problem. Disgusting.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have an ongoing battle with the toilet. Sometimes it flushes ok and other times not. When I flush the toilet I have to stand there with a plunger and make sure everything goes down and the toilet doesn’t overflow. If I don’t do this it will overflow and what a mess that is. There must be something in the line causing this and I hate to call a plumber. I am going to try some of your hints above to see if I can clear up this problem. I have used baking soda and vinegar in my kitchen sink and it works pretty well but not in the toilet.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I used to have that problem, too. I got tired of jiggling the handle to make it stop. Eventually I was able to stop my toilet from doing it by shortening the chain in the toilet bowl and make it more rigid by running the chain through a shortened drinking straw. So instead of running all the time, it only runs once in a while.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.One of the more helpful and frequent remedies you can learn is to be able to effectively snake a toilet. Clogged toilets will happen. With children in the home it is inevitable. At times, you can unclog by using a plunger. But what if the plunger doesn’t fix the problem? Then, you either call a plumber and pay his fee, or you begin snaking. To snake a toilet successfully, you will need to use certain tools, materials, and procedures.
Step 1 – Try to Determine the Cause of the Clog
After finding that the water in your toilet will not flow out of the toilet and into the drain, your first step should be to try plunging. If water is present in your toilet bowl, try plunging without flushing the toilet. Flushing could very well cause your toilet to overflow onto the bathroom floor. If plunging is successful and the water begins flowing you may have solved the problem. If the toilet bowl water continues to back up, try to determine what may be causing the clog. The most obvious and usually most successful way is to ask members of your family (especially children) if they attempted to flush things down the toilet, such as toys.
Step 2 – Choosing the Best Snake
If you need to obtain a snake, be sure you get one with a smaller turning head. Otherwise, you risk breaking a drain pipe. Begin with the small snake head. If you are unable to unclog your toilet and will need a larger one, take care in the way you use it. Don’t push it or turn it too forcibly.
Step 3 – Starting Your Snake
To begin using your snake, unwind 3 or 4 feet from its winding spindle and place the snake head into the opening at the bottom of the toilet bowl. Water in the toilet bowl will help unclog by flushing away any pieces that are broken loose from the clog. If you don’t see water in the toilet bowl, pour some into the bowl. Avoid flushing at this point. Now, begin turning the snake handle in a clockwise motion. At first, turn the handle slowly but firmly until you feel it begin to bind. As you turn it, the snake should find its way down the drain pipe without you forcing it.
Step 4 – Breaking up a Clog
As the snake head makes it way down the clogged drain and comes in contact with the clog, you will feel resistance to turning the handle. When this happens, wind the snake back. This may bring debris up from the clog, allowing you to see what might be causing the clog, as well as telling you that the clog is beginning to break apart. Try working the snake head back down the drain to the clog again, turning the handle to break loose more of the clog. Again, wind the snake back from the clog. Continue using this procedure until the water in the toilet bowl drains freely.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.