What to Do With a Clogged Drain

You are brushing your teeth, getting ready to head out for another day of work. You turn on the faucet to wash the toothpaste down the sink, but the sink isn't draining. It's just filling up with dirty water and pooling at the bottom of the sink. Sound familiar? Most of us have experienced a clogged drain before. Some are worse than others, but there are a few tricks to fixing a clogged drain.

The first trick you can try is a plunger. You can use a plunger for more than just a toilet. If you find your sink clogged, give can try to use the plunger to see if that will fix the problem. However, if the clog is located a little further down the drain, your plunger might prove ineffective. The next step might be to try some type of liquid plumbing solution. Just go to your local hardware store and ask for a liquid or gel chemical for unclogging sinks and drains. Check the directions on the back of the bottle to see how long to let the liquid drain down the sink. Once the time is up, rinse with water. In many cases, this will fix your problem. There are also home remedies that might work as well. Try pouring one cup of vinegar down the drain for similar results. Another home solution is to pour a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by three cups of boiling water. The water will help make the baking soda a more powerful cleaning solution. If these tricks don't working it's probably time to call your local plumber.