Clogged Kitchen Sink? Unclog It in Minutes with Baking Soda
Is your kitchen sink draining slowly again? Are you starting to see water pool up instead of drain properly? A clogged kitchen sink is one of the most annoying household issues. It interrupts your ability to wash dishes and prep meals. Plus, standing water can lead to gross odors and bacteria buildup. But don’t call the plumber just yet. You can often unclog a kitchen sink yourself using simple baking soda!
Baking soda is an affordable and non-toxic way to break up minor sink clogs caused by a buildup of hair, grease, and soap scum. Its abrasive texture scrubs away gunk while the fizzing reaction with vinegar bubbles away blockages. With minimal time and effort, you can use baking soda to get your sink draining properly again.
What Causes Kitchen Sink Clogs?
To understand how baking soda can unclog drains, it helps to first look at what causes clogs in kitchen sinks:
Grease Buildup
Grease and oil from food can stick to the sides of pipes and eventually harden, narrowing the drain opening. Fats and oils coat pipes and restrict water flow over time as more debris sticks.
Grease clogs form gradually as small amounts of oil accumulate with food particles. The grease catches and traps other gunk flowing down the drain. Dumping grease and fat trimmings directly down the sink greatly exacerbates the issue.
Hair & Soap Scum
Strands of hair that go down the drain can get tangled together and wrapped around the piping. Hair is stringy and winds up collecting additional debris. Soap scum residue from bathroom products also sticks to hair strands.
Soap scum forms when mineral deposits from hard water react with soap and shampoo. The sticky scum adheres to pipes and combines with hair to create dense mats that block water.
Improper Garbage Disposal Use
If your kitchen sink has a garbage disposal, improperly putting certain items down the disposal can lead to jams and cause back-ups. Hard items like bones, fruit pits, and eggshells lodge in the mechanical parts.
A garbage disposal is meant for soft food scraps, not entire chunks of waste. Turning the disposal on with a spoon, fork or other utensil inside can also bend blades and lead to issues.
Lack of Drain Maintenance
When debris, grease, and product buildup are allowed to accumulate over time without cleaning, it inevitably leads to major clogging. Small drips of grease and snippets of food get stuck and provide a foundation for blockages.
Not routinely maintaining drains with baking soda and hot water enables gradual gunk accumulation. Eventually all the little bits join into one giant mass that plugs pipes.
Why Baking Soda is an Effective Drain Unclogger
Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate is an ideal substance for breaking up minor sink clogs. Here’s why it works so well:
Non-Toxic and Safe
Baking soda is made up of sodium ions and bicarbonate ions. This natural mineral powder is non-toxic and won’t harm pipes or the environment.
You don’t have to worry about dangerous fumes or chemicals. Baking soda is biodegradable and safe to go down drains. It’s even gentle enough for use on clogged bathroom and kitchen sinks.
Breaks Down Organic Clogs
The abrasive crystalline texture of baking soda scrubs away and disintegrates gunky buildup like hair, grease, and food particles. It works on organic clogs that accumulate over time.
Baking soda is slightly gritty but not as harsh as chemical drain cleaners. When it rubs against clogs, it gradually breaks them down into smaller pieces to restore flow.
Dislodges Blockages
Not only does baking soda chip away at gunk, it also bubbles away clogs. Adding vinegar causes a fizzy chemical reaction that agitates and displaces blockages.
The foaming action helps dislodge the clog and push it further down the pipes when rinsed with hot water. Fizzy bubbles vibrate and jostle free whatever is stuck.
Affordable and Available
Baking soda is extremely cheap and readily available. A large carton costs only a few dollars at any grocery store or supermarket.
You probably already have a box in your kitchen for baking. It offers an inexpensive DIY solution before calling a plumber and paying for an expensive house call.
Step-By-Step Guide to Unclogging a Sink with Baking Soda
Unclogging a kitchen sink drain using baking soda is simple. Here is a step-by-step guide:
Materials Needed
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Kettle for boiling water
- Measuring cups
- Bucket
- Drain plug/stopper
Step 1 - Pour Baking Soda Down Drain
Start by measuring out 1⁄2 cup of baking soda and slowly pouring it down the kitchen sink drain. Let the baking soda sit for a few minutes to start breaking up the clog.
Step 2 - Add Vinegar
Follow up by pouring 1⁄2 cup of white vinegar directly down on top of the baking soda. This will activate an immediate fizzing chemical reaction. Let the foaming sit for 5-10 minutes allowing it to work on the clog.
Step 3 - Rinse with Boiling Water
Once the baking soda and vinegar have finished reacting, pour a kettle full of boiling hot water down the drain. This will help rinse away the loosened clog debris.
You can also fill up the sink about halfway with hot water, unplug the drain, and let the force of the water wash away any remaining gunk.
Step 4 - Repeat as Needed
If your drain remains fully or partially clogged after one treatment, repeat the steps again. Persistent clogs may require a few applications and time for the baking soda to fully break it down.
Let the baking soda and vinegar sit longer before rinsing the second time around to further work on stubborn buildup.
Step 5 - Use a Plunger
If the drain is still not fully unclogged, try plunging the drain while the baking soda and vinegar sit. This will provide added force to dislodge the clog.
Plug the overflow holes with rags, fill the sink with a few inches of water, quickly plunge up and down with force about 10-15 times. The pressure suction can help displace the remaining clog.
Step 6 - Try a Drain Snake
For severe clog cases where baking soda and plunging fail, use a metal drain snake. Feed the coiled wire down the pipes and hook onto the clog to pull it out.
Snaking the drain provides a physical means to break up and remove the blockage if chemical solutions can’t clear it fully.
Tips for Preventing Future Clogs
Prevention is the best medicine when it comes to sink clogs. Here are tips to help avoid blockages:
- Install drain catchers and filters to collect hair and food scraps.
- Don’t pour fats, oils, or grease down drains.
- Limit hair going down the drain by catching it with a hair stopper.
- Regularly flush drains weekly with baking soda and vinegar.
- Only put appropriate soft foods down a garbage disposal.
Taking proactive measures will save you from dealing with clogged drains down the road. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of baking soda!
Don’t reach for harsh chemical drain cleaners or call an expensive plumber as soon as your kitchen sink gets clogged. In many cases, baking soda can unclog drains effectively and cheaply.
Keep your drains maintained with preventative baking soda treatments. And use baking soda as a non-toxic first option whenever you notice a kitchen sink starting to drain slowly. With minimal time and effort, you can likely dissolve the clog and get your sink functioning normally again.