You\u2019ve run into a clog in your sink, or another drain somewhere in your house. Annoying, right? And all too common. Clogged drains are the plumbing problem that pops up the most often, and it means the drain needs to be cleaned out. Plumbers offer excellent drain cleaning services, but you will probably want to try a few simple clog-clearing methods first. Below are some of the dos and don\u2019ts for doing drain cleaning yourself.<\/p>\n
Sink plungers are great devices to keep around the house, and they come in handy many times. With the simplest clogs, you can usually have them taken care of with a few presses of the sink plunger.<\/p>\n
The other solution that people turn to for drain cleaning along with the plunger is to pour a bottle of highly acidic chemicals down the drain. This is a bad idea. These caustic chemicals can damage drains, and they do not even do a thorough job. They\u2019re also highly toxic, leave lingering dangerous fumes, and end up poisoning landfills.<\/p>\n
If you have a hand-cranked manual drain snake, you can try it out on the drain if the plunger didn\u2019t work. These can sometimes solve basic clogs, or at the very least get the water flowing again. However, you\u2019ll probably need more thorough cleaning from professionals.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve used the plunger and the drain snake, you should make a call to a licensed plumber for thorough drain cleaning. The other methods available, such as hydro-jetting and motorized drain snakes, are tools that are only safe in the hands of trained plumbers.<\/p>\n