Drain Unblocking - Prevention is better than cure with DrainUnblock.com, your handy online resource for Drain and Sewer Unblocking Information

Blocked sinks and wastepipes are very often the result of a build-up of grease and fat in kitchen outlets, and hair in bathroom outlets. It is not always necessary to buy expensive branded products to clear these blockages. Flushing hot water and washing soda through the pipes, from time to time, will help to prevent any build-up. As a bonus it will also serve to prevent any unpleasant smells coming from the waste pipes.

When using a sink plunger to clear a blocked U-bend it is not enough to just keep working the plunger as there is a tendency for the pressure created to be dissipated, by the open overflow outlet, instead of being exerted on the blockage. To maintain the pressure where it is needed, on the blockage, the overflow should be blocked with a 'plug' of some sort, for instance a thick dishcloth.

If all else fails a short length of flexible curtain wire (as used for hanging net curtains) pushed down the plughole might reach the blockage and clear it. This will work if the sink has a U-bend but not if it is a bottle-trap.

If none of the above effect a good result then more drastic measures are required involving the removal of the bottle-trap or the U-bend themselves. Both the U-bend and the bottle-trap are designed to hold a small amount of water which prevents smells (and anything nastier!) travelling up to the plughole and sink from the wastepipe and the drains. This is the point at which fat, bits of food, hair and all the other 'bits', that are mistakenly dropped into a sink, accumulate and form a smelly, slimy, solid and unpleasant mass.

A bucket should be placed underneath the trap before starting the job as, when unscrewing the bottle trap or u-bend plug, a certain amount of water will pour out, even if the sink itself is empty.

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