How To: Unclog Your Drain (Without Toxins)

Baking soda and vinegar are always in the kitchen. This really works, the only caveat being that you have to do it more often. But then you'll save yourself from using the highly toxic, Drain-o stuff that really doesn't do a perfect job anyway AND it contaminates your home. Of course, the best thing to unclog a drain is a plumbing snake, but that's for another day.

Baking soda and vinegar produce a remarkable chemical reaction that will clear out whatever's in the way when used with hot water and a plunger. The basic directions are...

1. Get as much water out of the area as possible
2. Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain
3. Follow with 1 cup of HOT white vinegar
4. Wait 10 minutes or until it stops bubbling and wash with boiling water
5. Use a plunger if necessary

General consensus seems to be that the vinegar and baking soda can be left in for any length of time, and that the hot water really makes a difference (which was a part we didn't know).

Here are some great links that will tell you more:

• Care2.com
• frugalliving.about.com
• housekeeping.about.com
• jewishnaturecenter.org

Comments (9)

Does this work for hair-clogged shower drains? It's not clogged so much as slow.

probably not. You'll need something more toxic (e.g. drano) to dissolve hair. I suggest getting a "hair snare" to put over your drain that will catch hair before it goes down the drain.

Or you could just pour half a bottle of hydrogen peroxide down the drain. Be sure to pour slowly and listen for the hiss. When you hear the sound, don't use the sink for a few hours.

I discovered this quite by accident. I knocked a opened bottle of H.P. in the sink, and guess what. My slow draining sink was no more. Now I use it in all my sinks, including the kitchen, but remember it will only work on biological items, like skin and hair and food.

I actually was able to clear a hair-clogged shower drain with this combo. My husband couldn't believe it worked and loved the whole third-grade science class aspect of it.

There's also the live-enzyme stuff for drains. It also works on the organic stuff (hair, grease, etc). The bacteria stuff is good because it'll only eat what it can, which means it won't destroy your pipes like Drain-o and the other nasty chemical brothers. It can be a tad pricy though.

http://masterplumber.net/bio-clean.htm

I've never had luck with vinegar and baking soda. Maybe it depends on the pipes. For hair, I use a FlexiSnake. It's a wiry, snakey thing with some velcro on the end of it. Works like a charm and they're pretty cheap:
http://www.flexisnake.com/

Jen (SLC)

I just watched the demo video on your flexisnake link. I'm ordering one. It looks like a miracle worker.

Even though the video is completely icky. I shiver to think of what lives in my drain.

Thanks for the tip!

Ounce prevention = pound cures.

Drain your pasta into your bathroom sink and tub drains every time. At least boil some water a couple of times a month and do this.

That'll take care of all that crap from building up in your drains.

Did anyone else click on the "Fun" link down at the bottom of the Flexi-Snake page? Pretty funny.