Clogged Kitchen Sink

Clogged kitchen sink can be very fustrating. I must confess that even I have had my share of trouble with my kitchen sink being clogged. Clogging is usually a result of not clearing the contect from dishes thouroughly enough. Even if while washing you attempt to remove it manually more than likeky 60% of the ocntent would have already gone down. So before I go into how to solve the problem of a blocked drain, let me elaborate on how to prevent it.

Growing up my grandmother frequently uttered that prevention is better than cure. This is definately the case with clogged sinks. Although there are methods to solve the problem, the fact is that we would be in a much easier position if we had tried harder to prevent it, rather if we were complacent because we had it in the back of our minds that we will be able to cure it. So before I go into how to solve the problem of a blocked drain, which is easier than many people might think. The first measure that we should take is to clear the content of dishes before they are placed in the sink. Content in this case is like left overs that were not consumed like bones and rice. Rice, however is very small and easy to slip through our finger so we might need a little extra reinforcement.

As we mentioned before small particles of rice and other food kinds often slip through our fingers and go down the drain anyway. Luckily the device in the picture above was invented. This is a sink stopper/strainer. It can be used to stop the sink to fill it with water, and when its not doing that, you leave it slanted on the rim of the drain, and it will catch those particles of food that we often miss.

Now for those unfortunate ones who were not cautious enough and clogged sink you will have to follow the below steps. Dont feel too bad, these instructions are from my personal experiences with clogged sinks of my own. In order to do this you will need the following:

1. A mini plunger, or a regular sized one if you are unable to find a small one. Note that I do not reccommend that you use the same plunger that you use to unclog your toilet. Other than the fact that it is totally disgusting, it is a health hazard.
2. Secondly you will need to purcharse some caustic soda.
3. You will also need a kettle or a pot, and a stove
4. Two pair of rubber gloves

Step 1

The first step is to boil the water, and have the other tools ready for you operation. If your sink is filled with water you will have to plunge the drain until the water has completely gone down. After this is completed you will have to remove everthing else that is in there. So put on a pair of gloves and begin to manually remove them.

Step 2

The next step is to pour two cups of caustic soda down the drain. Please note that caustic soda is extremely corrosive and must not come in contact with the human body at anytime. Please keep this chemical out of reach of children. In case of accident contact your nearest poisin control centre immediately.

Step 3

Immediately after safely pouring the caustic soda down the drain you will need to pour the boiling water immediately after. After about sixty seconds your sink will be completely unclogged.

If it did not work you will have to repeat steps 1 - 3. There is however a 95% chance that it will work the first time. If it did not work after six tries, then the problem is much deeper than we thought. You will have to contact a plumber to solve that problem. But the key here is after the problem has been solved, whether throught the use of my instructions or by a plumber, we should be more careful and try not to let ourselves fall in such an annoying and messt situation again.