Let’s Go Clog Huntin’!
Sometimes, a clogged drain needs the magic touch of the Honolulu emergency plumbers at Emergency Plumbing & Solar. But other times, harnessing your inner MacGyver and staring your clog straight in the hairballs is enough to keep your drain draining.
In this blog, we’ll discuss a few DIY solutions to handle mildly or partially clogged drains in your home. Even if these solutions only keep your drain unclogged for a little while, they can keep clogs from getting out of control until you get a professional plumber on the scene.
The Wire Hanger
You’ve used it to break into your own car, and you’ve used it to roast some marshmallows. But have you used it to unclog your drain? A wire coat hanger is perhaps the cheapest and most effective device for unclogging a drain—a legend in the world of hair-based clog removal. Just straighten that bad boy out, fashion one end into a fishing hook shape, stick it down the drain, and evict that cursed clog from the depths of your plumbing system. But beware, clogs look (and smell) worse than you can imagine.
Baking Soda & Vinegar
Maybe instead of forcibly pulling your clog from the drain, you’re rather let science do the work for you—or more specifically, your fifth grade science project. Baking soda and vinegar volcanoes have been a mainstay for people who procrastinated on their science projects for decades—and that same chemical reaction turns your paper mache volcano into a soggy mess can also eat through clogs in your drain.
First, boil some water and pour 75 percent of that water down your drain. Next, add a half-cup of baking soda to your drain and let it sit for five minutes. Then, with your remaining hot water, mix in a cup of vinegar and slowly pour it into the drain. Take a drain plug, and plug the drain—you want to keep your chemical reaction from bubbling up and out of your drain. Let that fizzy reaction sit for 20-30 minutes, and in the meantime, boil up another pot of hot water. Once you’ve waited long enough, pull the plug on the drain and flushing the concoction down the drain with the boiling water. It’s so easy, a fifth-grader could do it.
Wet-Dry Vacuum
Your clog sucks, but a wet-dry vacuum sucks harder. As long as your wet-dry vacuum has enough horsepower, you should be able to remove minor hair clogs from your drain with relative ease. We realize most people don’t have wet-dry vacuums lying around—but if you do, this is a highly effective method for committing clog homicide.
A Honolulu Emergency Plumber
Don’t you have better things to do than clear clogs from your drains? Life is short—you should be pursuing your passions instead of digging around in drains. That’s where Emergency Plumbing & Solar can help. We’ve spent decades wrestling with unthinkably large and complex clogs, and we dispatch these clogs every single time. If there’s a clog we can’t unclog (there isn’t), you don’t pay a dollar. Let us handle your drain demons—give us a call today!
