How to Clean Kitchen Sink Drain? A kitchen with a pleasant odor and cleanliness makes it more space worthy and attractive. It is also important to clean the sink drain.
It would be best to clean your sink drain once a week because it is one of the major reasons behind the unpleasant smell in your kitchen.
Sometimes the utensils you use to eat have leftovers, and you mistakenly put them in the sink, and these leftovers are stuck in the drain of the sink.
The oil used to cook food makes the sink drain greasy and oily. These things make the sink drain dirty, block the sink drain, and spread bacteria and germs.
So, to prevent your sink drain from an unpleasant smell, blockage, bacteria, and dirtiness, you must be dedicated to keeping your kitchen drain neat and clean.
Many drain cleaners contain chemicals that may fix your sink drain blockage issue and other issues related to the sink drain easily and quickly.
The sink drain issue was resolved initially, but these chemicals-based cleaners may harm your household pipeline systems, skin, and eyes.
So, we will discuss the cleaning methods using regular household products and easy drain cleaning methods that will not harm your eyes, face, and home’s pipeline system.
We will focus on useful tips and ideas about how to clean kitchen sink drains. These ideas will facilitate you clean your kitchen with a pleasant odor. So, let’s take a start and have a look at useful tips.
Precautions to Follow Before Start Cleaning Kitchen Sink Drain:
Firstly, keep your kitchen sink empty. Clear all the dishes or crockery items from the sink to clean them. Then, wear your gloves to clean the sink drain.
The cleaning method varies according to the sink type, so follow the method according to your kitchen sink. Following are the techniques or methods on how to clean kitchen sink drain:
1. Using Boiled Water:
It is a simple method to unclog your sink drain. Boiled water may unblock the blockage of pipes and remove the leftovers, grease, hair, and other wastes from your kitchen drain pipes.
Follow these steps to unblock pipes and clean the drain with boiled water.
- Boil the water on your boiler or cooking range.
- Flow the boiled water into an open drain.
- Turn the valve on to see whether the water flows slowly or not. If the water flow is slow, then repeat the process to clean the drain properly and completely.
This method is helpful only for pipelines having no PVC pipes. The PVC pipes are plastic, so the hot water could harm or melt the plastic.
If this method does not help you, move to another technique because your drain has a clog that does not remove through boiled water. Read the Detailed Guide on How to replace kitchen Sink?
2. Using Vinegar:
Follow these simple steps to clean the kitchen sink drain with vinegar only. It is also a very easy method that gives you information about how to clean kitchen sink drain.
- Take one cup of vinegar and pour it into the sink.
- Leave the vinegar on the sink for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, rub the sink with a sponge to clear build-ups.
- Then, pour 1 cup of vinegar into the drain and leave it for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, wash it with water.
3. Using Salt, Water, Vinegar, and Baking Soda to Clean the Garbage Disposal and Drain:
Follow this step-by-step procedure if you have a sink with a disposal. But if you have no disposal, then start from step 4.
- First, turn off the power of the disposal to prevent your hands from accidents.
- Make a mixture of dish wash soap and water or baking soda and water. Apply it on a sponge and start scrubbing the sponge on the baffle (rubber around the drain) because it can carry dirt and germs and may be the reason behind an unpleasant smell. So, clean all folding of baffles neatly.
- Look at the disposal to see if anything is stuck in the drain. If you find something stuck in the drain that disposal cannot break, use devices to remove these food pieces. Never use your hands to pull the food items out of the disposal.
- Put some ice cubes and salt into the drain and turn on the disposal power. Leave it for a minute so the water washes it.
- Put half a cup of baking soda or vinegar into the drain and leave it for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, start the tap to run the water or switch on the disposal. Flow the water long enough until the sink shows clean from the leftovers, and rinse.
4. Check the Rubbish or Garbage Disposal:
If your sink has a rubbish disposal, check it, and if food leftovers or something else is stuck in it, it may be the main reason for drainage blockage.
If the blockage is at the disposal level, then you can break the blockage by activating the disposal.
You can activate the disposal by resetting it and then clearing the blockage. But only put your hand into the disposal by disconnecting the power to the unit.
You can remove the blockage or clog by moving the blades in the disposal; you can use the wrench to move the blades.
Move or rotate the blade until you observe less resistance means you observe that the blades are moving easily without applying more force.
After that, turn the power on and start the water flow to see the results; if the water runs smoothly and fast, your problem is solved.
Otherwise, go to another technique that we discuss below.
But if you inspect the garbage disposal and everything is ok here, find another reason for the clog or blockage and apply another method to help clean the kitchen sink drain.
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5. Use of Plunger to Set Out the Blockage:
If you inspect that there is no issue with your sink’s garbage disposal, use the plunger to unblock the drain clog or clean the drain.
Follow these simple steps to clean the kitchen sink drain using a plunger.
- Boil the water and put it in your sink. The water you require is half your kitchen sink, or pour the water until the drain is covered with water.
- Place the plunger on the drain and start pumping it up and down a few times.
- Separate the plunger and observe the water flow through your drain.
- Repeat the process until the water starts running fast.
- If the water runs smoothly, this method fixes your issue; otherwise, try a different process to clean the drain.
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6. How to Clean Kitchen Sink Drain Using Baking Soda and Vinegar/ Dish Wash Only:
Use baking soda, vinegar, or dish wash soap to clean your sink drain.
- Make a mixture of baking soda and water, then wear your gloves and start rubbing this mixture using a sponge or brush at the places where the stain exits in the sink drain.
- If you find difficulty in removing the stain, then put some white vinegar in that area to wash the stain. But if your sink is made of ceramics, don’t use vinegar; instead, use a mixture of dish wash soap and warm water.
- Apply vinegar or dish wash soap and water mixture on a sponge or brush and start rubbing the areas of stains that you find tough to remove with baking soda.
7. Cleaning the Drain Using a Hanger:
You can use the hangers that are easily available in all the houses. But only a wire coat hanger is useful to clean the drain. Now, we will discuss cleaning the kitchen sink drain using a wire coat hanger.
- Take a hanger, start straightening it as much as possible, and make a hook at one end of the hanger.
- Use this hook to remove the leftovers of food or debris from the drain but don’t take it more down.
- Run the water to check the flow.
- Repeat the removal process using the hanger hook until you feel satisfied.
8. Using a Drain Cleaner:
This technique is helpful when the methods mentioned above on how to clean kitchen sink drain may not help you in cleaning your sink drain.
Bio-Friendly Cleaner:
The cleaner has natural enzymes that can easily remove soap, grease, debris, or leftovers.
Because the cleaner has natural enzymes, harmful chemicals are not used, so people can use it without damaging their skin, eyes, and pipeline systems.
You can purchase the cleaner from any store. The cleaner takes almost 24 hours to clean the drain.
Chemical Drain Cleaner with Awareness:
These cleaners contain toxic, harmful, and strong ingredients that may damage your pipeline system, pipes, skin, and eyes.
These cleaners can also change the sink or sink drain color where you pour it. But always use these cleaners when every method mentioned above fails in cleaning your sink drain.
You can buy it from any departmental store near your house.
Cleaning Discolored Drain:
To clean a discolored drain, mix the cleaning spray with baking soda. Mix it well with a brush or anything else, then scrub it into the sink drain.
The mixture will clean the discoloration of the sink drain and make the sink drain shiny and neat.
Cautions to Follow on How to Clean Kitchen Sink Drain:
- Maintain the cleanliness of your kitchen regularly. Try to clean the drain with hot water daily. Make it your daily routine.
- Avoid putting oil, food leftovers, and grease in the sink. It may help in preventing your sink drain from blockage and clogging.
- Avoid removing oil and grease from your dishes and cookware with tissue or paper towels before washing dishes in the sink.
- Avoid using regular soaps in kitchen sinks to prevent the formation of soap layers in the drain.
Conclusion:
This article summarizes the aspects of how to clean the kitchen sink drain, which requires to be cleaned. Otherwise, people may face many circumstances.
We mentioned the best sort-outs for cleaning sink drain precisely and quickly. The above processes will ease you clean and neat the kitchen sink drain.
An instance of failure in each process, then look for another one. The above methods contain products based on non-chemical and toxic free, so your skin, eyes, pipes, and pipeline systems are purely safe from any damage or harm.
The most convenient technique is the baking soda and vinegar mixture. It would be premier if you tried it.
After cleaning your sink drain, try to maintain the cleanliness of the sink drain with hot water and vinegar. It will last your sink drain for a long term of time.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How frequently should I clean my kitchen sink drain?
It would be best to clean your kitchen sink drain with hot water daily. But if you find it difficult, try cleaning the sink drain after a month using any method discussed in this article.
Which is an excellent method to clean the kitchen sink drain?
The best method is to pour the hot water on the sink drain, scatter one tablespoon of baking soda, and pour some hot water again. This is the easiest and simple method to clean your kitchen sink drain.
How to protect the sink drain from blockage?
You can protect the kitchen sink drain from blockage and clogs and keep food items and grease away from the drain. Put the leftovers of the food in dustbins, and don’t use the common soaps to wash the cookware; this may make a layer of soap on the drain.
Why is it necessary to clean the drain?
Cleaning the drain removes food leftovers and debris stuck in the sink drain. This will help in removing bad odors from your kitchen. If you do not clean your sink drain, then it may cause blockage in the kitchen sink drain.
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