My bathroom sink is clogged. I don’t know why. It clogs a lot, actually, but it usually goes away with some Draino. But this time, no luck.
The bottle I used was this stuff:
Oh, actually, I see it was Liquid Plumber. Either way - useless.
I also have a bottle here with this stuff - Liquid Plumbr Full Clog Destroyer.
If I add it to the standing water and chemicals from the last bottle, will it explode in a fountain of flaming bubbles? Is there something else I should try? So aggravating. Sigh.
Can you take the trap apart? Then you could go at it with a "snake", a coiled up twisted wire with a crank on one end.
Have you tried removing the cap on the drain to see what falls out? Fairly simple to do.
I would always recommend trying some mechanical means of clearing the clog before messing with chemicals. In addition to snakes you can also purchase for a few bucks a long, flexible plastic thing with barbs that will snag hair and other gross junk and pull it out.
A word of warning – you now have concentrated lye (or something similar) in your sink and pipes. That means you should wear gloves and eye protection from now on while dealing with this clog, as even a splash in the eye could be serious business. (This is also why most plumbers don’t recommend using this kind of clot buster.)
My first inclination would be to give it more time to work. If that doesn’t happen, then you’ll have to go with the snake or disassembling the drain. Again, gloves and eye protection. Plungers can also work, but they make splashes, and you don’t want concentrated lye solution everywhere.
What’s wrong with me? When I read the thread title I thought it was a suicide reference…
I had a plugged sink like that and the plumber had to come out and snake it.
Thanks for the suggestions, and the safety notes.
I’m reluctant to disassemble things right now because the sink is full of water (and Liquid Plumber). But if I get one of these snakes, I should be able to use that any way, right?
Is the drain cap the plug thing that goes up and down? (Sorry. We are outside my wheelhouse here, but I’m willing to learn.)
Well, I see how you made that connection. Drinking Drano? 
But I knew what this thread was about. 
Did you try a plunger? Plug up the overflow drain with a rag and plunge away. Might do the trick.
Unclogging a sink is ridiculously easy. Put a bucket under the p-trap, then remove the p-trap. Knock the clog into the garbage and replace the p-trap. Done.
I think he is referring to the clean out. Looks like a bolt on the bottom of the trap, the J or S shape pipe beneath the sink. Newer or inexpensive traps no loner have them
Yes, you can use a snake right away.
If you decide to remove the J trap in the above linked picture, all you need is a wrench/pliers & a bucket (& gloves/goggles). If you can remove some of the water from the sink (bailing it out before you start), there will be less to go into the bucket; otherwise, you might want to have two buckets on hand…& some paper towels.
This is what I do when my sink gets clogged. But as others have mentioned, be very careful if you decide to do this now with the liquid plumber stuff. It’s liable to splash everywhere.
These things have worked well for me in the past for clogs…I have long hair and I shed a lot. These are awesome for clearing those kinds of clogs. They are super cheap at home depot. http://zipitclean.com/
Definitely be careful with the sink full of water and draino though.
Cool.
No more from the OP…is he crawling about on the bathroom floor, blinded and acid burned? :eek:
Unless the entire drain assembly in the house is PVC there is a serious risk of destroying an iron pipe with acid. This happened in my house. The sink drained into a larger pipe that went to the vertical stack. Unfortunately the house had settled and the pipe no longer had a slope. The acid ate a 2" x 8" hole dumping all my shower water into the floor below.
Plunging is the quickest way to move a clog around but that doesn’t always work. In my case there was a vent between the sink drain and the clog. All I did was move water up and down the vent.
My suggestion is to put a bucket under the sink trap and remove the drain stop lever from below. This will allow you to pull the drain stop up and out. this gives you better access to the drain and may be the source of the clog. You can then use one of the little plastic drain snakes they sell at stores. Use gloves and eye shields to protect you from acid and have a clean water source nearby to wash anything that splashes on you.
Even I sometimes give up and call a plumber.
A plumber talked to my High School speech class. Why? The hell do I know, it was Catholic High.
“What do you need to know to be a plumber? How to make the shit run downhill.”
“I LOVE it when you use draino!”
No. The active ingredient in Drano and Liquid Plumber is sodium hydroxide, otherwise known as lye. It is a base.
There are, or have been, sulfuric acid based drain cleaners on the market.
Soap is very basic, too. I’d think to go after wads of soapy hair, an acid would work better.
