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Is your kitchen sink filling up with water and draining far too slow? Maybe your bath has got too much hair caught in the plug hole and isn’t draining right. The very nature of drains means that they regularly get dirty and can clog up from time to time. It can happen for a variety of reason, food, hair, just general gunge build-up, amongst other things. It’s unavoidable, at some point in time you will experience your drain clogging, so how do you fix it?
Well as the article name would suggest we are going to go through the best drain unblockers, but we’ll also touch on the methods you can try to unblock a drain, DIY drain unblockers, things to consider and just generally how you use drain unblockers.
Drain unblockers are excellent, they can break the blockage up and drain them away quickly, they’re also relatively cheap in regards to cost, but we’ll dive into all that later!
- How do you unblock a drain?
- Can you use DIY drain unblockers?
- What to consider when choosing a drain unblocker
- How do you use a drain unblocker?
- Our best drain unblocker reviews
- How to prevent future clogs
How Do You Unblock A Drain?
If you’ve noticed a blocked drain, there are a few things you can try before ducking off to the shops to buy an unblocker. Here are a few home solutions that may unblock your drain without costing you:
Pour boiling hot water down it
This is by far the easiest method of unblocking a drain, but it’ll only really work for small blockages. Simply boiler a decent amount of hot water in your kettle and slowly pour it down the drain once it has heated. Sometimes the boiling hot water will be enough to break down the accumulated gunge freeing up your pipes and clearing the blockage.
Use a wire hanger or thin bit of metal
If you have an old school hanger or a small, thin bit of metal that you can stick down your drain, you can try and use it to fish out or push down any unwanted dirt, although you should always try and fish it out first to prevent further build-ups. Even breaking up the clog a little might mean that pushing water through it afterwards frees the pipe.
Use a plunger
You probably have a plunger around the house right? Well if you don’t, you should, there useful. Just give the drain a good old pump with the plunger to see if you can unclog anything.
Take off and inspect the U-bend
The U-bend under your sink is named so as it is in the shape of the letter U (pictured below). It is shaped like this so that it fills with water to prevent sewerage smells working their back up the pipe and into the house. The down side of the shape is that it is also susceptible to blockages. If you have a clogged pipe, its a 90% chance this is where the block is.
If you are confident in doing so, take off the U-bend. These are usually done up pretty tight to create a water tight seal so you may need to get some tools to assist. Also make sure to have some sort of pan or bowl beneath the pipe to catch any water that may spill out. Now that the U-bend is off you can easily inspect and remove any blockages. When replacing the pipe, be sure to fit it snuggly to avoid any leaks.
If none of these methods are working, keep reading, we’ll go into detail on the best drain unblocker and some other DIY methods.
Can You Use Home Made DIY Drain Unblockers?
There are a few home solutions that you can use which work like drain unblockers, although they’re not always as effective because of course they aren’t formulated for that exact purpose, however here are a few:
Using baking soda and vinegar to unblock drains
My mums go to home remedy for a drain unblocker is using baking soda and vinegar. You first have to pour boiling hot water down the drain, then a cup of baking soda followed by a mixture made up of 1 cup water and 1 cup vinegar. Cover the drain for about 10 minutes, then pour boiling hot water down it again, this should cause a reaction that will help loosen any grime.
A bottle of soft drink
Yes, you can unblock your drain with Coke or Pepsi, believe it or not. All you have to do is purchase a large coke (2L), pour it all down the drain and let it fizz. Coke is full of phosphoric acid which can act as a corrosive and break down the build-up in your drains.
Dish detergent
For a clogged drain, you can sometimes get away with using a ¼ of a cup of dish detergent in a bowl with boiling hot water. Pour this down the drain and it can sometimes free some of the gunge.
What to consider when choosing a drain unblocker
If you’ve tried all the home remedies and methods and it isn’t quite working out for you, then now it’s time to turn to a purpose-made drain unblocking solution. There are a few things you should know and consider before jumping in and buying any old drain unblocker though, please keep reading.
Don’t choose a granular unblocking agent
Granular unblocking agents can do more harm than good, you want to go for a liquid solution and a powerful one at that. We’ve avoided granular solutions in our list, so not to worry!
Don’t get it on your skin
The solutions are generally corrosive and contain chemicals, including acids that can cause burns. You should always keep them out of the reach of children and when using wear any suitable face protection and gloves. Always avoid any contact with skin or eyes at all. It’s corrosive, so if it contacts with your skin, make sure you water it for at least 20 minutes.
Different unblockers are used for different things
Make sure you pick the right drain unblocker for the issue. There are some drain unblockers that specialise in different things, in particular, some are great for hair, others are great for gunge build up and so on. Always read the description and reviews but we’ll touch on that later, before buying the product.
Read the reviews
A lot of the drain unblockers don’t have much in the way of detail, and a lot of the information is generally very similar. The only way to tell them apart is to read peoples reviews, particularly the negative side, so you can find out what the particular unblocker doesn’t deal well with and decide if you need an alternative option. In my experience, most solutions have worked, but there have been a few times I’ve gone for a cheaper drain unblocker and it’s taken two bottles to actually fix the issue, and well there was one time I had a tennis ball blocked in the gutter, which it obviously didn’t fix!
How to use a drain unblocker
For the most part drain, unblocker is relatively simple to use, they differ slightly from bottle to bottle so you should only take this with a pinch of salt. Here are the general steps:
- Remove as much standing water around the area as you possibly can
- Pour the amount indicated in the instructions down the blocked drain
- They generally say to wait anywhere between 30 minutes & 2 hours, I sometimes leave it overnight just to make sure
- Flush it through with lots of hot water
That’s it, it’s really simple, but do remember the instructions may vary slightly from product to product!
Our best drain unblocker reviews
Now let’s get into it, what you’re here for, our list of the best drain unblockers in the UK. Here are our top 3 product picks for you, we’ve written a description of the product, it’s main features, why we’ve chosen it and an indication of their reviews.
In order, here are the top picks:
- HG Liquid Drain Unblocker 1L
- Buster Bathroom Plughole Unblocker
- Green Gobbler Dissolve Tub, Sink & Drain Unblocker
Best Sink Unblocker
HG Liquid Drain Unblocker 1L – Unblocks your drain within 30 minutes
Product Description
HG are offering this unique and safe liquid drain unblocker that’s an extremely powerful product. Don’t know much about the company? There a well trusted high quality cleaning equipment company and have been for more than 40 years. They are Dutch based but have several offices across the UK, they’ve been satisfying markets all over the world with locations in 45 countries, so it really is a name you can trust.
This product doesn’t need to be diluted, so you’re unlikely to get much splashing, it also doesn’t foam or splash meaning you get more of the solution actually down the drain itself. It takes about 30 minutes to burst into action and clear the blockage, it also doesn’t harm plastic drainpipes like some other solutions.
It’s a ready to use product that will not only work to unblock your drain, but it will also remove the odour and leave the bathroom or kitchen smelling fresh again. A single bottle that you purchase of this is sufficient enough to last 10 drainage treatments, so you can use it sparingly, for each blockage, you only need to use three cups or 300ml of solution.
It works by using natural enzymes and microbes that will eat through any blockages caused by foot, fat, oil or hair. It’s suitable for use on any kind of blockages and should more than do the trick.
Despite being an extremely powerful product, it’s also safe, but it’s advised that you should not use it on aluminium or zinc.
Main Features
We’ve detailed some of the main features of this product for you, so if you’re in a rush and want to skim read, just see the highlighted points below:
- Suitable for every type of waste pipe, even plastic
- It’s ready to use, you don’t need to dilute it
- Doesn’t splash or foam, meaning more of the solution tackles the blocked drain
- Can’t make blockages worse, unlike some granular solutions
- It only takes about 30 minutes to work it’s magic, afterwards, you should be blockage free
Why We’ve Chosen It
We’ve chosen this product as our top choice for a few reasons. It’s a highly recommended products with loads of reviews, over a thousand in fact, with most of the customers remaining satisfied. It’s also extremely well priced in comparison to some of the other products on the market.
After reading through some of the reviews, it really stood out to us as the overall best option.
Read The Reviews
Like we’ve mentioned this product has a lot of reviews, mostly positive but there are also a few negative ones. Before purchasing you should always make sure that you read all the reviews on the product that you can, to ensure that all the selling points and claims are correct.
Best Shower Unblocker
Buster Bathroom Plughole Unblocker, Dissolves hair and sludge 300ml (1 Pack)
Product Description
Buster is a well known brand when it comes to drain unblocking and there stocked in several UK supermarkets. It’s got a unique formula which is great at tackling hair and sludge build ups in your drain, the leading causes of bathroom blockages. Full blockage or just a slow draining sink, Buster has got you covered and can clear the issue quickly, making the water drain fast.
It is made of less than 5% chlorine bleaching agent, soap, perfume and non-ionic surfactants, meaning it’s a safe product.
Trying to stop a drain-blocking once in a while is pretty tricky, hair, soap, slide and other build-ups will eventually lead to the backing up of the pipes. Purchasing buster will leave you with free-flowing bathroom plugs in no time.
Main Features
After reading all about this product we’ve pulled out some of it’s main selling points for you to look over and evaluate:
- Targets bathroom blockages or slow draining water – It doesn’t mention being suitable for kitchen sinks
- It’s targetted at dissolving hair and soap scum
- Suitable for baths, showers and basins
- One shot solution – simply pour the whole contents down your plug hole, leave it 15+ minutes and it should be ready to go!
Why We’ve Chosen It
I’ve used Buster drain unblocker quite a few times myself and I’m a fan of this product. It was a close choice between this and the top one, I just felt that it was a little more expensive and less value for money which is perhaps because it’s stocked on supermarket shelves more so than the HG product, in my experience anyway.
That being said, it’s a great unblocker and does the job clearing any hair or sludge quickly and allowing the water to flow easily, although it does cost slightly more than our number one choice, it’s not going to break the bank.
The one negative of this product is it does only state bathroom blockages and doesn’t mention breaking down food particles.
Read The Reviews
If you want to find out more about this product for yourself, then the best thing to do is to read all the reviews. There are a few hundred reviews we’ve found, mostly positive but there are a few negative in there. If you want to get a picture of its capabilities it’s always best to have a look through the negative reviews and see what it’s had trouble with before buying the product.
Best Toilet Unblocker
Green Gobbler Dissolve Tub, Sink & Drain Unblocker – Toilet Liquid Drain Cleaner & Hair Clog Remover Tool – 916ml
Product Description
Green Gobbler is an American based product, it’s biodegradable, non corrosive, won’t damage your pipes, odourless and easy to use. It’s a product that is suitable for a wide range of blockages, designed for any house hold drain, it can unblock your sink, shower and even toilet! Powerful stuff.
It comes in a bottle so that you don’t have to measure out how much to use, the dual bottle caps mean that you can empty one side completely for sinks or showers, but for toilets, it will take both sides.
The rapid dissolving technology they’ve worked on formulating can liquify even the worst blockages which are caused by fats, hair, oils, lint or more. It’s a high-density formula, heavier than water, so it easily clings to blockages and gets to work.
They’ve also spent the time to ensure that the product is safe for the environment and completely biodegradable.
Main Features
We’ve highlighted some of the main features and selling points so you can decide whether this product is for you below:
- 30 Day hassle-free money-back guarantee – they have real confidence in their product!
- It can unblock even the worse clogs in minutes
- Highly effective revolutionary formula
- It clings to the pipes after it’s fixed the blockage to keep them clean
- It’s easy to use thanks to it’s two chamber bottle
Why We’ve Chosen It
Although a little more expensive than some of the other products we’ve highlighted, this one really packs a punch. We were impressed when it mentioned it can even unblock toilets using it’s two chambers. It’s got great reviews and the fact they’ve really gone to the lengths in ensuring it’s a product that is good for the environment must mean it’s quality.
Read The Reviews
Want to find out if this product is for you? Then the best thing to do is to read all the reviews and people’s experience in using it. Make sure you read all the positive and negative reviews in order to get a full picture of the product and what it is and isn’t capable of unblocking.
How to prevent clogs in your drain
You’ve found the drain unblocker that you want to buy and fingers crossed that it fixes the blockage for you, we think it will! None the less, you’ve gone through the pain of doing all this research, buying a product and unblocking your drain, you want to prevent it from happening time and time again.
There are a few things you can do to try and ensure that your drain doesn’t continue to clog with regularity. Here are some of our tips:
- Hair is one of the main causes of blockages, you can get guards that prevent this from happening that you place over your plughole & clean every so often
- Don’t flush anything you shouldn’t down the toilet! There are three things that should go down a toilet, one is toilet paper and the other two are what come out of you. There are several occasions of people trying to flush nappies down, don’t! This also goes for wipes, feminine products and even condoms, they don’t break down in water.
- If you’re cooking something that leaves a large build-up of fat on your pan put it in a container and bin it, fat is heavier than water so when it reaches the U-Bend in your plumbing system it sticks and stays, eventually clogging the drain
- When you have plate that has a little bit of food left on it, empty it in the bin, don’t just try and force it down the plughole. It’s another one of the most common ways of blocking a pipe
- Paint… don’t pour paint down your sink… you’ll be surprised how many people do
