So far in my Pinterest adventures, I’ve tackled a braided bun and made some fire starters. So, when my bathroom drain started emptying slower and slower, I knew exactly where to go to figure out a DIY fix.
Sure enough, I found pages and pages of pins devoted to clearing a drain using natural products. I decided to use this pin and grabbed some baking soda and vinegar from my pantry. When I started, my sink was still draining but had gotten noticeably slower over the past couple weeks.
First, I added in about ¼ cup of baking soda. I didn’t bother removing my drain stopper and just kind of shoved the baking soda into the drain with the sides of the cup measure.
Then, I poured in about a cup of vinegar. The pin calls for white vinegar, but I used apple cider vinegar because that’s what I had on hand. Fun fact: if you have well water that causes a blue stain on your sink, the apple cider vinegar takes the stain off.
I left the concoction bubbling and went downstairs to boil some water (and empty the dishwasher… multitasking for the win!).
As soon as the pot of water started boiling, I pulled it off the burner, ran up the stairs to my bathroom, and dumped it directly into the sink.
So, did it work?
Nope.
At first I thought that the water was draining faster, but within a day of using the sink like normal I realized that it was just as bad as it usually was. I can’t believe that the kind of vinegar would make a difference… what do you think?
You know what DID make a difference? Draino. Yup, cleared that drain right up.
Have you tried clearing a drain clog with vinegar and baking soda? Did it work for you?
I pinned this too! It worked really well for me, If you’re interested in trying again, try pouring the boiling water down immediately following the vinegar, then close the drain.
I think this pushes the “volcano” (that’s what we call it when my kids mix baking soda and vinegar anyway 😉 down through the pipes, and the hot water helps pull the gunk up with it.
We do it every 4 months or so and haven’t bought drano in years!
Did you use the correct kind of vinegar? Maybe the apple cider vinegar really did make a difference…
I used regular white vinegar (cheapest!), but I have found that other than smell, the type doesn’t matter for volcanos and other kids science “experiments” so don’t know that it would matter here.
I do think that flushing the vinegar and closing the drain is key
I think the usefullness of this depends on why your drain is clogged. If it’s soap scum and calcium etc. I’m pretty sure this would work because of the PH change. But if we’re talking hair clogs the only way to deal with that is a full on chemical attack.
My kids use baking soda and vinegar to make volcanos. Were you accidentally on the DIY volcano pinterest page?
It is very possible… pinterest DOES suck you in like a vortex! 😉
I’ve tried this and it did not work. However, I love knowing this will help with my blue stains. And I like the suggestion of closing the drain and forcing the volcano through the drain.