I’ve been ignoring the fact that our bathtub drain has been draining slower and slower each day. I blame it on all the expensive bath oils, bath salts, organic soaps, lotions, hair masks, hair conditioners, and hair shampoos that Heather uses. (Ok, ok. I admit it. I use those products too.)
My first inclination was to just buy some industrial strength drain clearing liquid and pour it down the drain. That is, until Heather said “I don’t want you to use those harsh chemicals because it will ruin our pipes”. So harsh chemicals were not an option.
Instead, I jumped on the internet and searched for an organic way to clear a drain (yes organic. I don’t know why, other than the fact that “organic” is the hot buzzword in LA). Luckily I found a very easy, natural and safe way to clear a clogged drain:
1. Pour 1 cup of baking soda down the drain.
2. Pour 2 cups of boiling water down the drain.
The boiling water changes the chemical properties of the baking soda to make it more alkaline, and the fizzing action of the baking soda helps to loosen debris.
I did this process three times and now the drain works perfectly. Nice!
If this process doesn’t work for you, check out some of the other methods on the Care2 Greenliving website.
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May 15th, 2007 - 1:13 pm
I’ve had good results with old school / organic drain cleaning, too. My method involves putting baking soda down the drain then adding white vinegar for a powerfully expansive foaming reaction. Then I flush the pipe with boiling water to clear what the cleaner loosened.
May 15th, 2007 - 2:35 pm
Pretty cool. I’ve heard that baking soda and vinegar work too.
May 16th, 2007 - 2:19 pm
I have also had some success with the same 2-to-1 ratio of baking soda and hot white vinegar. Heat Using your proportions, substitute white vinegar for the baking soda. Heat the vinegar in the microwave. Pour the baking soda into the drain and follow with hot vinegar. Do NOT lean over the drain, as it will bubble like mad.
While this is going on, boil a big pot of water. When the fizzing stops, pour the boiling water down the drain.
This works for normal slow drains. I had a galvanized pipe in my basement that I wasn’t able to clear this way, but when I had it replaced, this 2″ pipe had only 1/4″ of clearance in it. At that point, NOTHING will clear it.
The baking soda/vinegar method can be done weekly to keep drains clear.
May 22nd, 2007 - 6:31 pm
My favorite non-chemical tool is a mini-drain blaster - http://www.improvementscatalog.com/home/diy/backed-up-drain
It can be a little messy(water will spray around) if you don’t have a tight connection - but it works amazingly well.
October 23rd, 2007 - 10:57 am
Unless there is some reason that this wouldn’t be a desirable way of cleaning a drain, using a snake is very effective. They make ones that can be attached to a drill and will spin them to (hopefully) clear whatever the constriction is. Which coincidentally can be very useful with hair. Actually our toilet was having problems and used the snake and I pulled out some dental floss> I subsequently told my wife not to put dental floss down the toilet. I know it sounds so harmless and there was probably more to the clog than that but, the point is the snake fixed it.
After it was done, I cleaned the metal marks with some toilet bowl cleaner and one of those green scrub pads.