I am renting a house from my friend, and the master bathroom sink never really drained that well, but it seems to be getting worse and worse. Before I have to go to the trouble or taking out the pipes and manually cleaning them, what is the best liquid drain cleaner in your experience?

11/6/2009 2:19:05 PM

Buffered sulfuric acid. Most of the major drain cleaner companies make it. I know Roebic does. You can get it at Lowe's.

11/6/2009 2:21:25 PM

sounds like it would work... i haven't looked, but if i have plastic piping, is it gonna fuck it up?

11/6/2009 2:27:35 PM

Get a cheap snake from lowes. maybe 8bucks.
No need to remove pipes. just pull the sink stopper, usually by unscrewing
the articulating rod from under the sink, then lifting the stopper out.

11/6/2009 2:29:56 PM

^

11/6/2009 2:30:09 PM

and that would be better than a liquid cleaner? I might just buy both and give it a double whammy...

11/6/2009 2:40:58 PM

i use this (or what's left of my bottle), but i don't think you can find it anymore (it's straight lye)

11/6/2009 2:43:46 PM

Try clorox first, since it can work and not damage your pipes. Snakes typically work better than liquid drain cleaner if you have significant blockage. Depending on what it is, liquid drain cleaner might not help at all.

11/6/2009 2:43:52 PM

A lot of times it's just a bunch hair and skuz built up around the drain plug shaft.
Try that first and profit

11/6/2009 2:45:21 PM

also, FWIW, lye is safe for PVC

11/6/2009 2:47:48 PM

I took apart the piping and clean out most of the gunk with a coat hanger and an old screw driver- shit was awful. It flows better, but still not perfect. Since I got most of the shit out, would that sulfuric acid still work, or would it just flow right through?

11/7/2009 10:36:07 AM

I just always used Liquid Plumber. Never had a clog it wouldn't fix.

11/7/2009 2:13:36 PM

just take the damn trap off and clean it out

11/10/2009 8:05:43 AM

^ yes, channel locks and a bucket under the p trap. it is most likely hair caught on the stopper assembly.

11/10/2009 8:55:53 PM

careful not to get sulfuric acid on you while you take drain pipes apart.

11/10/2009 10:09:12 PM

Snake is going to work better than any drain cleaner; I say this from experience. If you spend a little more, you can get one which attaches to a power drill; you can then work it through using the drill. Blasted the clog right out of my slow-running / stopped drain, something chemicals could never seem to manage.

11/11/2009 1:28:05 AM