Clogged drains don’t always happen overnight. You may have noticed for the past few days or weeks that the sink isn’t draining as fast as it used to or there is a particularly bad smell coming from the kitchen sink. Then one day, the sink completely stops draining. The big question is what do you do now?
Here are some of the best methods to unblocking your drains in no time.

1. The bent coathanger

Okay, we’re going to start with this ”tip” but you really need to know that that this is something that you should never do. It is rarely effective, especially if the blockage is after a bend in the pipe. What you will probably do if you try to force a wire hanger down your drain is damage the pipe and even cause a leak. If you are considering this then put the wire hanger down slowly… and move on to tip number two.

2. Home remedies

By mixing baking soda and vinegar you will notice that a chemical reaction starts to take place right away. You should not waste any time as you pour the mixture down the drain.

The next step is to flush the drain with hot water. This will force the reaction to continue and allow this wonderful home remedy to work its magic.

3. Boil some water

This is about as easy as it gets. SImply boil as much water as you can safely and then slowly pour it down the blocked drain. You should wait until the water backs up. Then do it again and again with small pauses between each pour. If this doesn’t work then you really need to bring out the big guns.

4. Contact a professional

The safest and surefire way to unblock a drain is to use a plumber, they will be able to get the job done quickly and correctly with ease. Plumbers have all of the right tools and equipment that you can’t purchase from your local hardware store. They also have many years of experience dealing with every sort of blockage that you could imagine.

5. A wet and dry vacuum

If you have a wet & dry shop vacuum, it can become a terrific tool to unclog drains. First, set it to vacuum liquids. Cover up the vent to prevent a mess. Then, create the tightest seal you can over the drain. You may want to get creative and adapt an old plunger head for this purpose. This does not always work, but it is worth a try if you have given everything else in this list a go.

6. The snake

This is a safer and better version of sticking a wire hanger down the drain. The drain snake is something that has been specifically designed for this purpose and you will find that you’re able to get this little piece of equipment to do wonders. It is a fairly low-tech piece of equipment that works wonders. It’s basically a long flexible metal or plastic rope with a spiral of metal at the end. You should read the instructions carefully as if you make a mistake you could end up leaving a part of the snake down your drain and making your blockage a lot worse.

7. Washing up liquid

You can try adding this to the boiling water that you put down the drain in an effort to disrupt the blockage. You should only use the liquid soap that you use every day for this. It is very unwise to start mixing other household cleaners as there are some very harmful gases that can be released if you mix the wrong chemicals.