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Clutterfree
Member
10-24-2003
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 7:55 pm
Any suggestions on clearing clog from double kitchen sink, without bringing in plumber, appreciated. A clog suddenly appeared today without warning, and through my attempting to hand plunge, got worse, until NO water was going down. Tried plunging both with and without 2nd sink's hole covered. Went to store and got plumber's snake; got it past small opening successfully, and down about 2+ feet, then seemed to hit some mechanical difficulty (like bend in the pipe?). Hate to use chemicals, BUT.... Finally gave up and used full bottle of Plumber's helper, about 5 hours ago. Said to let sit 15 to 30 minutes. I've tried rinsing it down, but after only about 30 seconds (that at least is a small improvement over not going down AT ALL), sinks start to fill up again. Unfortunately, I have no HOT water to help rinse because hot water heater on the fritz. any suggestions appreciated!
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 8:02 pm
Sorry about your problem! My friend's double sink used to clog all the time. It turns out that the garbage disposal on the left side wasn't grinding well and the leftover shrapnel (for lack of a better word) was getting stuck on the horizontal pipe between the sinks, then eventually filled the trap under the right sink. We used to dismantal the pipes ourselves because they were just the pvc pipes and were easy to do. Now, she found a plunger that blasts a huge amount of air and 2-3 pumps and it blows that crap to China! I think it might be worth it to look for a new plunger, it has done the trick for my friend!
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 8:03 pm
you can boil water on the stove
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 8:33 pm
We usually just take the pipes apart too (not pvc though.) If you do that, make sure you drain (by bucket) as much water as you can first, then put the bucket, with another one handy under the pipe your taking out. There's also a snake made especially for the u-bend pipes. Darren sent me out one night for a snake and I ended up buy two different kinds cuz I had no clue which one he needed, lol. Another thing that works, at least on the tub, is a wire coat hanger cut and straightened out with just a little hook on the end. I have long hair, Dakota has long hair and we end up causing slow drainage in the tub all the time. Darren's gotten to the point that going in with his coat hanger and cleaning that drain out is a Sunday chore. I don't think it'd help in the kitchen sink because its not long enough, but it does great in the bathroom.
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Clutterfree
Member
10-24-2003
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 8:41 pm
Hukdonreality, I had a question about plunger you mentioned....do you know if it has a name of some kind...it sounds great! I have one that is a step above the old single cup variety; mine is black with an inner section inside the outer "cup", but maybe there's a new and even better one! Thanks everyone for keeping the suggestions coming...I'm still running a little water every half hour or so to see if the gel liquid plumber will eventually take effect; will also boil some water as suggested.
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 10:06 pm
I'm sorry that I don't know the name of the plunger! I remember that it's green I am going to my friend's house tomorrow, weather permitting, and will check it out. That will probably be much too late for you and I hope that you will not still be clogged by the time I return tomorrow evening! My mother always put some baking soda down the drain, followed by cider vinegar and let it bubble away. After you no longer hear the fizzing (it will look "done", but you will be able to hear the fizzing), she would pour a whole tea kettle of boiling water down. She never paid for drain cleaners...and neither do I! It seems to keep things cleaned out. I do that periodically and have never had a clogged drain! Now I'm going to go and knock on some wood so I don't get one!
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 10:19 pm
I actually found a picture of the plunger she has! I remember that she bought it from a flyer that came in with some credit card bill or something. This one I found on the "As Seen on TV" site. I'm sure you can find something similar in a hardware store. I think what makes this one a bit different from standard plungers, is that you can pump it and not lose the suction necessary for pushing the blockage into the bigger pipes. Good luck to you!

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Justavice
Member
11-22-2005
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 10:50 pm
I had a gnarly toilet clog and through some internet research found that a tablespoon or two of dishwashing liquid (palmolive, etc.) would do the trick. I didn't try it because I live in a condo and it wasn't recommended for that because the bubbles can pop up in various drains, but from what I read, it sounded like an inexpensive option to try...
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Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Friday, December 09, 2005 - 3:36 am
Funny that we've had clogging problems with our double sink with garbage disposal on one side! Didn't realize it was so common. We rent the house we're in, so we just call the landlord. He unscrews the PVC pipe, too. Here's an interesting, but kind of embarrassing clog story. When I made two turkeys for Thanksgiving, my mother ran one roasting pan into my laundry room and set one pan in the big, deep laundry room sink. The next day, the washer overflowed. Couldn't figure out why. Did another load. All was well. Load after that, the washer overflowed again, flooding my floor in the laundry room. So my dh called our landlord. The two men stood in the laundry room for a half hour (dunno what they did). Then the landlord decided to call Sears to come fix the washer; he couldn't tell what was going on. The Sears washer repairman came and after a bit, called me to the laundry room. "Mrs. S, you don't need a washer repairman; you need a plumber." And he proceeded to point to the sink (after he'd put the washer thru a cycle), which was full to overflowing--and doing so again! I just never thought of that. Well, I am getting to something useful--I think. He asked me for my plunger (regular kind) and some ammonia. I had a huge bottle of ammonia in the laundry room (for cleaning purposes) and another bottle of white vinegar I used in the kitchen. So I handed him both. Not 5 minutes later, after pouring down the vinegar and using the plunger--and all was fixed! I had never heard of vinegar for cleaning out a clog! So, you might try that, too, Clutterfree! Chided my dh when he got home--teasing him (and our landlord in the same breath) about calling the Sears repairman. Very funny, but glad I wasn't paying the bill. That would have been a choker.
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Skootz
Member
07-23-2003
| Friday, December 09, 2005 - 3:47 am
for clogs I usually use baking soda followed by regular vinigar and followed by a few kettles of boiling water. To prevent clogs, I always put the boiling water left over in the kettle down the drain.
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Clutterfree
Member
10-24-2003
| Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 10:53 am
Update on FORMER drain clog!!!! I used all your information, and by 4 AM early Friday morning I FINALLY had a clear kitchen drain. I am going to look over some of your maintainence recommendations (hot water with bakiing soda and vinegar) to use on a regular basis. Hukdonreality, I looked up your friend's plunger on the internet, and did find it. Wow, it's a lot bigger than I orignally thought from your small photo. I may consider getting one for another time. I did find this review through google's "cached" snapshots of former website pages, this from Channel 9 of Chattonooga TN(from 2002). They had done several tests using the product and it got good reviews with the following cautionaries: FRom Channel 9's review: "I showed the Drain Buster to Robert Dailey.. he teaches plumbing to journeymen and plumber's apprentices at Chattanooga State....He knows the Drain Buster works, but the age of the drain pipe might be a problem.. he says "you have to be very careful because a pump of this type puts hydraulic pressure on the pipe in such a force, that it could crack the pipe." And that goes for regular plungers, too! The Drain Buster..DOES IT WORK? Yes, it did for us, but Mr. Dailey has a warning about using drain cleaners AND plungers.. If you've got one pipe serving two side-by-side sinks in the kitchen, be sure and stop up the other drain opening.. Otherwise the corrosive drain cleaner could explode out of the open drain into your face or on the kitchen walls WHEN you use the Drain Buster.. The Drain Buster is available (online) and similar products around the same price can be found at most major hardware stores.." Thanks again to all for both practical and moral support!!!! Hurrah for free flowing water in kitchen sinks!
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Halfunit
Moderator
09-02-2001
| Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 10:59 am
Yay free flowing water! We had to have the plumber come to the house yesterday for a blocked drain in the tub. Seems my youngest cat thought it'd be funny to shove a toy mouse down the drain. We have since replaced the drain cover. 
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Rosie
Member
11-12-2003
| Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 11:03 am
The last time a plumber was here to unclog the kitchen drain, I saw him pour a lot of dish soap into the drain. Since then, I keep small containers of dish soap in the bathrooms too. Every once-in-awhile, I squirt some soap into the toilets, showers and drains. It also gives a fresh scent to the area. Have not had a clogged drain since.
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