Plumbing Clogged drain opening home remedy

[difalcojr]

TL;DR

home remedy for hair and other clogs in drainage piping

4 step sequence:

1. 2 quarts boiling water down the sink or tub drain. Boiling: 220 deg. F., not just hot. Softens up the clog. Then add
2. 2 cups (16 ounces) Drano (gel or liquid, commercial drain opener). Wait one full hour to let it work. Then add
3. 2 cups (16 ounces) bleach down the drain. 'Double whammy'! Wait another hour for that brew to work. Then, finally, pour another
4. 2 quarts boiling water down the drain. Flush well after that.

This has worked twice now for me for difficult hair ball clogs located about 2 feet down the drainage pipes. Each of these methods was recommended to me as an individual solution, but only by combining them all into one process, have they now proven most effective. First 2 times, anyway, on a sink and a bathtub backup. So, you may want to try this method first in lieu of a $700-plus Roto-Rooter visit and inconvenience from the plumber, when using a plunger just doesn't unplug a clogged pipe.

 

[berkeman]

What does the bleach part do? Just curious.

Also, did you do this after trying to snake the drain and that did not work for some reason?

 

[difalcojr]

Not sure what the bleach does, exactly, but someone recommended it to me one time, and I tried it. It worked OK, about like Drano works. OK, but not great. I really can't explain any 'double whammy' effect, though. It just sounded good.

Well, I draw the line on augering, using the snake. I work a lot still in an old apartment building with old pipes, and I will change out drain piping, P-traps, everything under a sink, but I draw the line at augering the line when it goes into the wall and down a drain pipe. The clog usually is located there. I just never got very good at snaking, although I have tried. I have a good plunger with a smaller diameter inner suction cup that seals pretty well on small drains, but I don't snake anymore. Pros use a very expensive, motorized unit.

So, I use the plunger first, then this new liquid method, then, lastly, the snake (or, rather, call the plumber with the snake).

 

[Rive]

'Double whammy'!

One-and-a-half, at most. As far as I've just looked up Drano also contains sodium hypochlorite (bleach).

What I would suggest you is some fine mesh strainer plugs.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Is it safe to "mix" Drano with bleach in the pipe even after an hour? Shouldn't there maybe be another boiling water step in there before?

 

[difalcojr]

Thanks. Yes, I always tend to exaggerate. Also, thanks for the mesh strainer solution. The best solution! I have recently bought the most expensive ones at Ace Hardware in U.S. The all metal ones work pretty well for the bath/shower drain,

but these I find work best:

They have an additional, removable rubber filter in the middle, which seems to catch even more. The middle area drops down into the drain hole too (can't see this in photo).

On the question of an additional flush between Drano and bleach, yes, perhaps needed, not sure, but I have left Drano in pipes for very long periods of time, forgetting what I had been doing, and, in my experience, anyway, I don't think the Drano or bleach has damaged the pipes' interiors very much, so far, over many years of Drano being used. They say it does damage them, though, I know that.