How to Choose the Best Drain Cleaning Tools for Home Use

Most people don’t think much about the drains in their homes until one of them isn’t working correctly. The fact is, there are several different types of drains in the average home, and they all play important roles in carrying water out of your house and through the plumbing system. There are drains in your tubs, sinks, and toilets, of course, but also in your washing machine and dishwasher. All these drains connect to one main drain that connects to your septic system or your municipal water system, and they all need to function properly, or things can get a little bit harrowing. Fortunately, with the right tools, you can clear blocked drains, and clogs are the most common issue homeowners are likely to have.

How Do You Clean Sink Drains?

If you are like most people, the sink drains in your bathroom and kitchen are probably prone to clogging. This is because these drains take a lot of punishment, and we expect them to allow a great deal of debris to flow through them, unhindered. In the kitchen, these drains are often blocked by grease. Greasy buildup in the kitchen sink drain, either from pouring grease and oil down the drain or from washing greasy dishes, catches other bits of food and debris, trapping them and causing a clog. In the bathroom, soap and hair join forces to create very nasty clogs. Whether you are washing your hair or shaving over the sink, hair going into the drains is a bad idea. Cleaning sink drains is a chore most people don’t relish, but fortunately, you can reduce the number of clogs you have to face. Prevention is the key to accomplishing this. First, don’t pour grease down the sink; instead, collect it and recycle it. Remove as much grease as you can from dishes before you wash them. In the bathroom, do your best to keep hair out of the drains. Brush your hair before your shower, throwing away excess hair instead of letting it collect in the drain. Shave over a solid surface, again discarding the hair instead of rinsing it away. In addition to taking these drain-saving measures, use hair catchers in the drains to keep as much hair as possible out of the pipes.  If these measures fail and you still get a clog, try one of the tools listed below, or call for a professional plumber to rectify the situation and determine if any further precautions need to be taken.

Ranking Drain Cleaning Tools for Home Use, from Worst to Best

Whether you are unclogging a sink, a tub, or a toilet, the right tools are imperative. Unfortunately, there are many options out there that aren’t ideal. Here, we offer our list of worst to best, and our pick for worst might surprise you.

• Chemical Drain Cleaner: We said this might surprise you, because who hasn’t reached for a can of chemical drain cleaner to quickly dissolve away a clog? The problem is that these cleaners are terrible for the environment, bad for septic systems, and can even damage your pipes! Steer clear if at all possible. If you don’t want to manually remove a clog, but would prefer to just pour something down the drain to dissolve it, a safer option is baking soda, followed by vinegar, with a chaser of hot water. Sometimes, this will do the trick, especially in kitchen drains.
• Plunger: The plunger is a simple tool, but it works fairly well for unclogging toilets, sinks, and shower drains, as long as the blockage is minor. More stubborn clogs will require more strenuous unclogging methods.
• Drain Snake: This tool is also known as an auger, and it is another simple yet surprisingly effective tool. The snake is inserted into the drain and twisted, and this essentially drills out clogs caused by hair and debris. It’s a good tool for sinks and shower drains, but may not work on deep or tough clogs.
• Handheld Drain Unblocking Gadgets: These little tools are things like barbed drain sticks, and they are extremely handy for clearing hair out of bathroom sinks. They’re really just a temporary solution, but they work more effectively than you might think.
• Electric Drain Snake: This is an upgrade from the manual auger, and it does an amazing job of tackling stubborn blockages. If you have a seemingly immovable clog lodged in the depths of your plumbing, this is the tool for you. It’s really a professional tool, but you can find electric drain augers for rent at big box stores for DIY use.

Sometimes the Best Drain Cleaner Tool is a Professional Plumber

There are many other drain-clearing tools out there, including water jetting tools, pipe freezing tools, and even plumbing tools with cameras, to visualize clogs out in the pipes in order to determine the best way to remove them, but these tools are best left to professional plumbers. Plumbers, with their knowledge and expertise of these tools, know how to use them safely and efficiently, with precision that ensures an effective solution and the skill that protects your pipes from future clogs. If you are looking for a reputable, trustworthy plumber in the Edmonton area, you need look no further than Hydro-Flo Plumbing and Heating. A locally owned and operated HVAC and plumbing company, we’ve been serving Edmonton, AB, and the surrounding areas for over 18 years. We have earned a reputation for excellence in the community, and we are committed to providing outstanding customer service, offering a wide range of high quality residential and commercial plumbing and HVAC services, completing our projects quickly and within budget. To learn more about our caring, compassionate service, as we work to make our community better, or for help with your plumbing or HVAC, contact us through our website.