Our homes are incomplete without drains. We wash dishes, take showers, use the toilet, and whatnot.
The water flows by quickly because the drains have drained it, easing the task. Otherwise, our houses would be flooded with water and full of unpleasant smells.
No matter if it’s a kitchen or a bathroom sink drain, it needs proper cleaning to keep your home safe from the bad odor and health problems that the accumulated bacterias give birth to.
Sadly, most of us only heed kitchen sinks but your bathroom sink drains also need regular unclogging and bacteria cleaning.
It’s obvious that we’re going to talk about bathroom sinks in this blog. Let’s begin with how the bathroom sink drain works.
How Bathroom Sink Drains Work?
Bathroom sink drains work just like any other sink drain in your house. There’s just a slight difference in certain features.
For instance, a kitchen sink has a connection with a water filter and dishwasher, while a bathroom sink only serves its functionality by connecting a faucet and drain.
They provide the faucets with hot or cold water and offer draining functions. That’s it.
Talking about bathroom sinks, all of them have two separate pipes to supply the water based on its temperature.
Besides that, one of the sink pipes links the drain to your home’s water drain system, further connecting these draining pipes to the local water draining system.
Bathroom Sink Plumbing
When we talk about bathroom sink plumbing, there are two fixture holes on either 4-, 6-, or 8-inch centers of any bathroom sink.
The wider ones are designed to accommodate split set faucets, which distinct the faucet’s handle from the water supplying spout.
Faucets: A set in the middle or a single-lever faucet can be installed in the 4- or 6-inch holes—extended tubes or gooseneck spouts transport water from wall shutoff valves to the tailpieces at the faucet’s base.
Stoppers: A pop-up stopper is commonly installed in the drainpipe that goes through a bathroom sink, and it lifts and drops as you pull the grip or handle up or down.
Knob and Lift Rods: It’s usually just behind the faucet head. The knob is basically the tip of lift rods that are connected to a clevis (a connecting bar).
Clevis and Pivot: The clevis is attached to a pivot rod-and-ball arrangement, which comprises a rod that goes through a rubber pivot rod and slopes uphill to the stopper’s tailpiece.
How to Clean A Bathroom Sink Drain?
You may think that your bathroom sink doesn’t need regular cleaning because there are no solids that pass through it, but there’s a lot more than solids when we talk about bathroom sink drains.
When you take showers, wash your hands or face, the dead skin and the products that you use (facewash, handwash, shower gel, shampoo, oils, or soap) have their particles that can stick into the plumbing pipes that may cause leaking or other functionality issues.
| Pro Tip: You can avoid the whole clogged drain situation with one smart move, and that’s about taking care from the start. If you notice something slipping down the drain or stuck in there, take it out as soon as possible. |
There can be two major issues that you may face with your sink drain issues:
- Sink drain leaking
- Sink not draining as it should
The most probable causes for sink leaking are pipe breakage or drain clogging, Surprisingly, sinks not draining water have the same reasons.
In both cases, cleaning your sink properly is the only way out. There are different ways to do so. Let’s see how it’s done.
Flush the Drain with Hot Water
One of the easiest ways to fight the stubborn bacteria lingering in your sink pipes is to pour the hot water down a clogged drain.
The water temperature shouldn’t be too high because then there are chances that your wax ring or other pipes made from PVC plastic will melt.
The melting can lead to leakage, which will cost you a good amount of money.
Why Pour Hot Water in the Clogged Sink? It’s a good first step in the cleaning process as it helps you get rid of the greasy or sticky materials that are clogging your sink pipes.
Use a Chemical or Natural Mixture
If the hot water doesn’t work that well, you can always go for the cleaning solutions. Some popular DIY mixtures include ingredients like vinegar, salt, or baking soda.
These natural ingredients have the best cleaning properties. When they are mixed in a solution, they create a reaction that helps get rid of the stains and unstuff the solid particles.
But, if you’re not a DIY person, you can use mixtures that are easily available in the market. In either way, you’ll have to leave the drain for 30 minutes and then pour hot water once again.
Use Unclogging Tools
When a drain gets blocked or clogged, plumbers use tools to unclog them properly. You can call a plumber if the problem seems serious or buy one of the tools and use them yourself.
These are some common unclogging tools that you can keep at home:
- Hair snake
- Drain snake
- Drain auger
Each of the tools works at its best. They’re safe to keep at home, and you can unclog the drains having hair or smaller food particles easily when you’re using any of these.
Conclusion
You must always have a regular check on your bathroom sink drains to prevent stains or drain clogging issues that can give sewer gas access to your place and it’s difficult to get rid of.
Clean your bathroom sink drains once every week or if you’re too busy, just flush hot water down the drain pipes. It hardly takes 10 minutes.
Concluding the blog, it’s always good to do things on your own, but if the problem seems serious, please contact a licensed plumber to help you out.
They’ll give you a good solution and also evaluate the intensity of the issue.
