Most Common Causes of Bathroom Sink Clogs and How to Avoid Them
Are you tired of your bathroom sink clogging up on you? Bathroom sink drain clogs can disrupt daily life by causing frustrating problems such as slow drainage and expensive plumber bills.
With the right knowledge of what causes these clogs, you can prevent them from happening in the first place!
Here's our guide on the most common causes of bathroom sink clogs and the best practices to avoid them.
Most Common Cause of Drain Clogs: Hair Down the Drain
A common misconception is that hair travels through your drain pipes easily. However, virtually every drain has sticky gunk on the inside, causing hair to get caught and cause clogs over time. This applies to all types of plumbing, including plastic PVC plumbing in modern homes.
As hair builds up in your drain over time, your drain becomes more and more obstructed and this leads to bad odors, slow draining, or even a completely clogged drain.
Small Objects Falling Down the Drain
Onto the second most common cause of bathroom sink clogs: small objects. This is a trickier one, because usually once small items fall into the drain, they can't be fished out like hair with something like a drain snake.
Even when using a traditional sink stopper, small items such as jewelry or rings can still slip through into your drain and cause issues.
Methods for Preventing Drain Clogs
- Regularly clean and maintain your drain (using drain snakes or drain chemicals).
- Stop hair and objects from going into your drain in the first place.
- Install a drain strainer to prevent clogs.
Let's discuss each method and which is best for you!
Method 1: Maintain Your Drain
Method 1 doesn't sound ideal off the bat; surely we can prevent clogs from happening in the first place. However, if you don't mind a bit of DIY work, and clogs don't happen often for you, this could work for you.
How to Maintain Your Drain
Maintaining your drain manually is pretty straightforward. If hair is clogging up your drain, try using a drain snake. First, give the snake a little bend with your hands and then push it into the drain. Twist it a few rotations, then pull it out along with all the hair it catches.
Another way to deal with the hair in your drain is with drain cleaning chemicals. However, this can get expensive over time because they're consumable.
You can also disassemble your p-trap underneath your sink by placing a bucket under it to catch water and unscrewing both connections from your drain pipes when it gets full of hair or you lose a small item in it. However, this won't prevent deeper clogs beyond the p-trap, and the p-trap might not catch all your small items.
Method 2: Keep Your Drain Clear
Method 2 sounds reasonable, but some people may find it difficult or impossible to prevent hair or small objects from falling into the drain. Plus, it's stressful to have to constantly focus on keeping items out of the drain by yourself.
How to Keep Your Drain Clear
One word here: mindfulness. Be mindful of your drain and what you're doing around it. For example, try to avoid brushing your hair over the sink. Also, put on small jewelry such as rings or earrings away from the sink. Yes, in the short-term, this takes work. But, it spares you from unnecessary plumbing bills and/or frustration down the line.
Method 3: Use a Sink Strainer
Finally, Method 3. It's no doubt that using a sink strainer will save you time and energy. It's a set-and-forget solution; once you install it, it does all the work for you.
How to Choose the Right Sink Strainer
When choosing a sink strainer, you should consider:
- Price
- Ease of installation
- Effectiveness of preventing clogs
You probably don't want to break the bank when buying a sink strainer, and you don't have to; there's plenty of cost-effective strainers out there. But they're all different, and which one you choose matters.
Finding a strainer that's easy to install can spare you from frustration. But along with being easy to install, the strainer needs to be effective at catching hair and small items to prevent clogs.
An example of a good option is popcork™. It's a 2-in-1 bathroom sink stopper and strainer that effectively prevents clogs. It can be installed in seconds and easily deals with hair, jewelry, and other small objects. It's unique from other strainers because of how easy it is to install, and it allows you to stop water if needed.
Click here to buy a popcork™ for your sink