Are you looking for cheap and easy ways to unclog a clogged bathroom sink or kitchen sink? This makes DIY drain cleaning with a straw possible!
You don't necessarily have to call a plumber if a sink is clogged because you can clear the drain with a straw. This clever hack offers a fairly easy and effective cleaning method when it comes to build-up of hair and other slime. Typically these are located a few inches below the crosshairs of the drain. In bathtubs or any type of household sink, this can become a real nuisance over time. To save yourself the plumbing work and make cleaning easier, you will find a short guide to the trick below.
Why cleaning drains with straws can be beneficial
Although a blocked drain can almost never be prevented, alternative and, above all, inexpensive remedies can be used to combat it. This allows you to make a DIY tool with a little skill and save yourself the expensive repairs. This approach also has the added benefit of allowing you to respond in a timely manner every time and prevent future complications. Most people lose hair every time they shower or wash, which is why they are usedpractical life hacksmakes it very advantageous.
In addition, a drain can be cleaned with a straw if the water drains more slowly through it. However, if you're dealing with clogged sinks, kitchen sinks, or bathtubs, you may need different onesUse home remedies such as baking soda. For this reason, it would also make more sense to regularly check all clogged drains in the household. By maintaining your own pipes, you will be less likely to require costly services or dangerous chemical cleaning agents. All you need to try this trick yourself is a pair of regular scissors or nail scissors and a plastic drinking straw. You may also be able to use tweezers to help.
Follow simple steps and unclog drains
As already written, the usual suspect for clogged drains is hair. Fortunately, the positive results can be seen the first time you clean the drain with a straw. To do this, you need to make specific cuts on the plastic with scissors to get into the hard-to-reach openings. Instead of tweezers, you can also use thin pliers or even bend a paper clip in an emergency. Here are some simple steps you can follow:
- First, try squeezing the straw so that it becomes flat.
- Then make small, slanted slits in about half of it and bend the straw a little so that the little triangles you cut out look like barbs.
- If you use a flexible drinking straw, you should cut off the other, non-flexible end. It is also important to ensure that the barbs created point upwards towards the flexible part.
- First, turn on the tap and let the water run briefly so that you can soften any dried blockages.
- Now take your homemade cleaning tool that allows you to clean the drain with a straw and hold it up. The barbs should point upwards.
- The next step is to dip the stalk into the opening and move it in all possible directions. Wiggle it up and down, but rotate it slowly so that it can hit all the hairs and debris with the barbs.
- If you don't feel any resistance from caught hair, you can try other positions in the drain. Such dirt is often found in the middle of the drain.
- For deeper clogs, you can use the tweezers to maneuver your cleaning instrument. In such cases, straws with flexible parts are more advantageous.
- Now pull out the straw and remove anything that may be stuck on it.
More tips for cleaning drains with a straw
- Since most drinking straws are made of plastic, it can be difficult to reach all corners of the drain where dirt has become trapped. For this reason, you may need to repeat this cleaning method systematically.
- Try to better identify the affected area with a flashlight and press the barbs of the drinking straw against the side of the drain. Rub it as hard and gently as possible so that it can remove everything more effectively.
- Pull up the trapped hair and dirt gently and carefully, but not too quickly to avoid losing it. The cleaning process should generally resemble a classic fishing method.
- Make cleaning easier with tweezers or a paper clip by making it easier to catch and pull out the hair.
- You can then wrap the remaining dirt in toilet paper and flush it away.
