Bathroom Ideas

So, your sink is blocked? Let’s unblock it, even without a plunger! Follow our step-by-step guide to get to know how to unblock a bathroom sink. The process is very straight forward and you will have a functioning sink very quickly. As a result, you won’t need to call a plumber and you will save yourself some money too!

What you will need for your bathroom sink:

• Plunger

If you don’t have a plunger:

• Towel or kitchen paper
• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• Lemon
• Boiling water
• (Biological washing powder)

Let’s start to unblock a bathroom sink! First, block the overflow (if your sink has one) either with a towel or kitchen paper. Next, there are two ways to unblock a bathroom sink depending if you have a plunger or not.

No plunger

1. Firstly, measure out your ingredients. Take ¼ cup of baking soda, 1 cup of white vinegar, and 1 full kettle of boiling water (approximately 2 liters).
2. Then, pour the baking soda into the drain. Be careful so that the baking soda falls inside the drain and not all around in the sink.
3. Next, pour in the cup of vinegar with the baking soda. The mixture will start fizzing and some noise and bubbles will appear due to the chemical reaction. This means that the chemicals are “eating” away at the blockage in your sink.
4. Blocking the overflow with a towel or kitchen paper will stop the bubbles from rising up and will keep the chemical reaction concentrated on the clog.
5. Prior to pouring in the boiling water, you can also squeeze in the juice of a lemon, particularly if you notice an unpleasant smell coming from the sink.
6. Now, allow the baking soda and vinegar reaction to fully work their magic for 15 minutes! While waiting, you should put a full kettle on.
7. Once the water has reached boiling point, pour it down with the vinegar, baking soda and blockage. This is the moment when you should check if the sink is draining any faster, repeat steps 1 to 5 until the water flows away at its normal speed.

Plunger

1. Firstly, remove the sink stopper, especially if it is fixed within a pop-up waste set. This step is crucial, otherwise you will just be plunging the stopper up and down rather than fixing the clog.
2. Then, fill the sink with some water; enough to cover the drain.
3. Next, place the plunger directly over the drain and press down once, until you feel you have created a seal.
4. Grab the handle of the plunger, plunge vigorously up and down about 10-20 times. Make sure that the plunger is tightly sealed around the drain, creating suction.
5. Lastly, remove the plunger and check for the blockage. Repeat the steps until the clog comes out.

What if you don’t have baking soda, vinegar or lemon?

You can use biological washing powder or soda crystals which you will probably have at home. This will make the clog slip down the drains. Pop two tablespoons of biological washing powder down the plughole, followed by a kettle’s worth of boiling water. This should remove any fats or grease that have built up.

Can you use bleach to unblock a sink?

Combine bleach and boiling water to dissolve some type of clog, however, this combination won’t dissolve hair.

Well done! You have succesfully unblocked a bathroom sink! If you liked this article, please give a comment and let us know if you would like to read more articles like this!