2 Things You Should Never Do When Your Kitchen Sink Is Completely Clogged Up
If your kitchen sink has been draining slow lately, you may discover one day that it is completely stopped up and unable to drain any water at all. Because you cannot go with your sink, you may decide to take matters into your own hands and try to unclog the drain yourself. However, if your sink is clogged up to the point that nothing is getting through, there are a couple of things you should never do when trying to clear it.
1. Attempt to Fish Out the Clog
After inspecting the drain by shining a flashlight down the hole, you may be able to see the clog. Even if you do not, you may believe that you can unbend a wire clothes hanger or use something else lying around your home to fish it out. However, if you try to use something to remove the clog, you may wind up making it worse. If you push on the blockage at all, it may jam it inside the pipe even tighter than it already is. Or, you may end up pushing it further down the pipe, making it harder to reach.
And, while you could use a plumber's snake, you may do the same thing if you are not proficient at using the tool. It would be better to leave it alone and call in a professional.
2. Use a Chemical Drain Cleaner
Since using what you have on hand to fish out the clog is out, you may decide to go to the store and buy a chemical drain cleaner. After all, it is designed to clean out drains and pipes, so it should work to remove the clog in your sink, right? While this is true, the cleaner will be pretty much useless if your sink is totally clogged up. The cleaner works by dissolving blockages with which it comes into contact. However, since your kitchen sink is not draining at all, the cleaner will only sit in the sink, being unable to make contact. What you will end up with is a sink full of chemicals that you have to deal with.
If your kitchen sink is completely clogged up, you may only make the problem worse by trying to fix it yourself. Instead, consider contacting a drain cleaning service so they can determine just how bad your sink is stopped up and take measures to clear it out, as well as offer suggestions on how to keep it from happening in the future.