Are you staring at a clogged kitchen sink? Is the stagnating water in the sink making you feel sick? The good news is you can unclog the sink without calling a plumber or pouring hazardous chemicals down the drain.

You can use everyday materials you have at home to take care of this annoying problem. Read below our list of 5 Things to Do if You Want to Unclog Your Kitchen Sink. And then let us know if you have any tips to add!

Trick 1: Don’t Put Vegetable Peelings Down Disposal

Although the garbage disposal is a powerful and useful way to get rid of food waste, it is not meant for certain vegetables. Don’t put potato, carrot or celery peelings down the disposal. These veggies are fibrous or contain a lot of starch which can jam the disposal motor and  clog your sink drain-piping every time. Just like kitchen sink blockages, flushing the wrong items down the toilet can cause stubborn toilet clogs that require specific fixes.

There are other food items that occasionally will clog your sink. If this happens, follow the next four tips.

Trick 2: Use Your Plunger

Plunger is a must-have tool for every household because it can be used to unclog any drain in any part of the house including the kitchen. Yes, the simple plunger can unclog your kitchen sink too. When you use the plunger, plug the other holes in you kitchen sink with a rag cloth. Also, ensure that the plunger cup completely covers the clogged kitchen sink hole. Now, keep the plunger in an upright position and plunge about ten times vigorously. This should remove any vegetable peels, food leftovers or any other solids in the kitchen sink.

Trick 3: Clear the P-trap

The P-trap is the pipe below your sink that’s shaped like the letter P (on its side). You should be able to spot it when you look in the cabinet below your sink. This pipe, shaped to provide a seal against sewer odors, gets clogged when receiving larger solid objects. To unclog the P-trap,  you need a pair of gloves and a bucket. You should unscrew the large nut on both the sides of the  trap with your bare hands and remove the pipe. Make sure you place a bucket right below the trap to collect all the unclogged water. You can also run your hands through the pipe to remove any solid objects.

Trick 4: Use a Metal Wire

Sometimes using a metal wire to push down or pull up debris from your drain can help unclog your kitchen sink. If you don’t have a metal wire, unbend a wire hanger and use it in the kitchen drain hole. Since this is time-consuming, you’d only use this trick as a last resort. It works well when you know what’s inside the drain.

Trick 5: Use a Drain Snake

Go to your local hardware store and buy a short manual-crank drain snake. This tool is fairly inexpensive and works well unless the clog is further down the drain, past the P-trap.

If none of the above tricks work, then you should call an expert right away, especially since clogged drains are the perfect breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria and viruses.

Have you had to deal with a troublesome clogged kitchen sink? What tips would you add to our list of 5 Things to Do if You Want to Unclog Your Kitchen Sink? If you’re ever in need of a plumbing expert witness, don’t forgot to call Ivey Engineering today!