You would not believe if someone said they have never clogged their drain. The same goes for you too. There must be at least once that you blocked your drain and had a difficult time clearing it out. The worst of the clogs occur when vacations occur, and you have guests all over the house. The reason is apparent; the increased number of users for both the bathrooms as well as kitchens. It also increases the chances of the drains being clogged.
Suppose you have dinner at your place, you will be so overwhelmed with other chores that you will not get time enough to think what you are pouring down the kitchen sink in a hurry. Or you won’t have time to keep cleaning out the hair from the shower drain. And when you clog your drain because of these, you have to immediately go out looking for an eco-friendly drain clog remover, since it is highly likely that there won’t be any technicians available at the last moment and that too in the vacations.
Sometimes, the situation would worsen, and our usual case of plunging the drain will not help. And this is also not something you want to be doing while the guests are here.
Something even worse than the clog is the situation of being forced into using dangerous chemicals to clear those clogs, whereas you should be able to wait enough to use an eco-friendly drain clog remover.
Clogs do not occur overnight. You will see signs of water flow slowing down way before the drain line gets wholly clogged. Therefore, you must keep an eye and keep using these homemade and eco-friendly drain clog removers to face these situations. Using these solutions will also ensure you are not harming your drainpipes through overuse.
However, before learning how you can clear the drain clogs, you need to know why these clogs happen. Then only will you be able to keep them clear using either eco-friendly drain clog remover or otherwise? It might also help you prevent the clogs before they even occur.
What Causes These Drain Clogs?
If you ever wish to find a cure to the problem, it is impossible to do so without knowing where or what the problem is. The same goes for the clogged drainpipes too. If you do not see the cause of these clogs, you would not be able to prevent the problem from occurring, nor would you solve it when it happens.
Most drain clogs in the households occur due to the following reasons.
Kitchen Sink Clog Causes
Fat, Oil, and Grease (or FOG): Fat and oil are some of the major causes of the clogs in the kitchen drains, and the same is the cause for slow draining water. You sometimes let the fat or oil run down the drain, which leaves the sink quickly with the warm water. But as it cools down in the gutter, it sits at the bottom and starts to build up.
It starts to hinder the water flow initially, and then eventually, a drain clog occurs.
Food Particles: food particles and vegetable peels, if washed on the utensils, flow down the sink drain and build up in the drainpipes. That usually happens in the curved U-shaped pipe right under the sink and is also a major cause for most household drain clogs.
Bathroom Drain Clog Causes
Hair: When it comes to the drain pipes in our bathrooms, the hair that washes down them while we shower is one of the biggest reasons. The hair can easily flow down the drain while we shower or wash them and start building upon or inside the drainpipes. It first slows down the draining, and then eventually results in a complete blockade.
Soap Scum: You might be amazed to find that soap residue is also one of the big reasons for clogs inside the bathroom drains: shower or the sink. The greasy residue from the soap and its particles start clinging to the drainpipe walls and making a layer. As the layer thickens, the outflow is minimized until a point comes when no water flows out at all. It can also be a reason for the corrosion of the drainpipes.
If you want to know how to clear the drain clogs using eco-friendly drain clog remover, read on.
Remove the Clogs Using Eco-Friendly Drain Clog Remover
Looking at the earlier part of the passage, you should tell the early warning signs of drain clog. If the water starts to pool around your feet while you shower or your sink is taking longer than usual to drain out completely, this is a sign that you have a drain clog or that it is about to occur.
It is the time when you need to take swift action because if you ignore, you will suddenly notice a completely clogged drainpipe, and no water would flow out. It could also lead to a burst drainpipe if you ignore the matter for too long.
The first thing you need to do is precisely the gunk and excess hair from the drain opening, but if it does not solve the problem, you need to go a step ahead and look for remedies. There are several liquid solutions available in the market that can help you clear the clog. However, it is better that you always go for an eco-friendly drain clog remover to prevent the environmental damage, as well as the damage that would otherwise be caused to your drainpipes.
We have listed a few ways to clear out the clogs in the drain using eco-friendly drain clog remover to help you with that. It would help if you tried some things before finding out a plumber to get the issue resolved.
1. XIONLAB Safer Drain Clog Remover
This solution might look simple, but it works like a charm, quite surprisingly. Straighten out a wire coat hanger as much as you can, and then bend one end of it to make it into a hook. Now put it down the drain hole and start to fish. You should be able to get maximum hair out of the drain using this tool. Keep a trashcan nearby so that the hair does not flow back in with the water. After you are done removing the hair, pour down ample water into the drain to clean the remaining gunk in the drain along with it.
While you use this method, you need to be careful not to further push the trash into the drain with the tool. Also, do not go too deep to drop the hook inside, which will only worsen the situation. Wash your hand thoroughly after you are done cleaning, and do not forget to flush the drain with hot water.
2. Baking Soda and Vinegar
You must have heard of this method in several other DIY tutorials too.
Take half a cup of baking soda and pour it into the drain after removing its cover. Next, take half a cup of vinegar and pour it onto the baking soda in the gutter. You might notice slight fizzing inside the drain. This fizzing will remove all the gunk, hair, and grime from the drain. Leave the solution to sit in the drain for several hours or even overnight if you prefer. Now flush the drain with hot water after that time has passed. Flushing will take along the loosened buildup and the paste that you made, and clear the pipe.
You can also form the paste in a cup using the same quantities before pouring into the drain. The rest of the procedure is similar to above—a mixture of these two works as a fantastic eco-friendly drain clog remover.
3. The Wet & Dry Vacuum
If you have a wet vacuum cleaner, you can also clear out the drain clogs. However, this method is not preferred but is still worth giving a shot. First of all, set the vacuum to work with liquids. Next, use your creativity to seal the drain opening with the vacuum pipe. You can make use of an old plunger head to do so. Then cover the vents of the machine to prevent a mess.
Once the opening is sealed, set the vacuum to its highest settings and then turn it on. It should clear the clog and pull all the buildup into the vacuum bag. It might not work for all types of clogs and depend on the power of the vacuum you are using. And as stated above, this might not be the best method, but it is worth giving a try as an alternative for eco-friendly drain clog remover.
4. Salt and Baking Soda
It is also one of those solutions that you would have heard of many times in several DIY tutorials online. It surprisingly works pretty well for the clogged drain lines too. If you wonder how these two ingredients use eco-friendly drain clog remover, read on to find out.
Take half a cup of baking soda and mix it with the same quantity of table salt. Now open your drain cover and pour it down into the drain. Leave it there for roughly 20 to 30 minutes. This mixture of salt and baking soda should be enough to clear out the sturdiest buildups from the drains.
After enough time has elapsed, the mixture would have performed its action. Now pour boiling water into the drain to flush out the loosened debris and the combination you poured.
5. Dish Detergent
This method can work for clogged toilets as an eco-friendly drain clog remover. Take a cup and fill it to the one-third level or half of it if you prefer the dish detergent. Pour it into the toilet, followed by a bucket full of boiling water. The soap will help loosen the debris and gunk buildup from the drain, and the boiling water will help it flush through the pipes after reducing it further.
In some cases, this alone would not be enough, and you will still witness slow water draining. In such situations, you will need to take the help of a plunger.
Right after pouring the hot water, grab a plunger, and start plunging. And if that doesn’t work either, it’s time to get your hands dirty (not literally) and make use of some rubber gloves.
Prevent Drain Clogs from Occurring Again
Once you know how to clear your drains using eco-friendly drain clog remover, you also need to understand how you can prevent the clogs from occurring again. Here are a few things that you need to keep in mind as a homeowner.
- Do not pour oil, grease, or fat into the drain or the garbage disposal. Items that contain fatty or greasy substances, such as bacon grease, cheese, or peanut butter, should be cooled down and disposed of correctly in a trash can. Wipe your utensils that might have any of these before you put them in the washer.
- You might think hot water would melt down the fat, and it will run down the drain into the sewer; you’re mistaken. It will solidify upon cooling up as soon as it enters the drain pipe and results in a clog.
- Food waste and vegetable peels should be appropriately disposed of in the trash. Never let them run into your drainpipes or the garbage disposal.
- The best thing you can do is get a hair filter installed in the shower drain. It will keep the hair from entering the gutter. However, it would help if you were careful enough to keep taking it out and cleaning it into a trash can.