How to Unclog Drains Without Chemicals

Image Gallery With the right methods, you can fix a number of plumbing issues yourself — and skip the plumber! ISTOCKPHOTO/MARTINEZ BANUS

Drains are hidden heroes in your home. If you’re lucky, you can go for years without thinking about them, but when dirty sink water suddenly won’t go away or a toilet won’t flush, they can be a major frustration. A plugged drain certainly demands attention, but fixing it is probably something you can do yourself. You’ll get faster results than calling a pro, and you’ll save money, too.

Successfully unclogging drains depends on a few simple tools and knowledge of the layout of pipes hidden in your home. 

Each drain connects with horizontal pipes that meet a vertical section of the system called the “stack.” The top of the stack goes through the roof, and acts as an air vent. The horizontal pipes travel down and out of your home, taking wastewater with them. Poor drain performance can be caused by problems in either the drain side of the equation or sometimes, the vent side. Even if water is free to flow through pipes, for proper performance the water must be replaced by air drawn into the system through the rooftop vent.

Certain parts of every drain system are prone to blockage, so it pays to understand where typical trouble zones might exist before an emergency arises.

Three Hotspots for Clogs

Plugged drains are most likely to occur in three specific places: curved sections of pipes called “traps” that exist underneath sinks, tubs and showers; the internal passages within a toilet; or somewhere inside the main drainpipe leading away from your home.

Before you spend a lot of time trying to unplug a sink or toilet, and regardless of where the blockage seems to be located, start with a simple check: Run some water down the other drains in your house. Do the others flow freely? If not, your trouble probably involves more than meets the eye and could actually be part of a systemic problem.

Before you try to clear what looks like a small, localized blockage, take a quick look at the big picture. You’ll either know you’re on the right track or save yourself from wasting time trying to solve the wrong problem.

Sink, Tub or Shower Drains

The most likely spot for a sink drain to clog is about 6 inches below the drain opening in a section of curved pipe called the trap. It’s an essential feature of every drain, but potentially troublesome, too. Traps keep nasty (and lethal) sewer gases from wafting up into your home by retaining small amounts of water in the U-shaped bottom section. This water seals the pipe opening so gases can’t sneak past. Curves of any sort in a drainpipe, especially as tight as those in a trap, encourage blockages. This is where the vast majority of sink, tub and shower blockages occur.