When Drano Isn't Working Take These 4 Essential Steps to Clearing a Clog

Drano & Related Products

Plumbers in Dallas, and across the nation, always find themselves saying that homeowners should never pour chemical plumbing solutions down their drains when a clog arises.

Drano and related products damage plumbing in the long term, and when the clog doesn’t clear or inevitably returns, people tend to continue pouring solution down the drain in the hope that it will eventually be a “successful, cost-effective solution.”

Our plumbers in Dallas want to spare you unnecessary plumbing issues and suggest that you stop using chemicals the first time they fail. Find out why these types of solutions typically fail and what you can do to safely put an end to your standing water problem.

Why Wouldn’t Drano Work?

Although plumbing chemicals like Drano are designed to break up clogs and clear your pipes, they often make a clog worse for homeowners.

Yes, the heat these chemicals produce will break down the remnants of a clog, but likely only push them farther down your system to form a more dense clog in a harder-to-reach section of your plumbing. This leads to repeat clog offenses, repeat pouring, and the eventual ruin of your plumbing system.

What to Do When Chemical Solutions Fail

The manufacturers of chemical solutions know the likelihood of failure and typically tell users to try, try, and try again until their problem is resolved. Typically, the only result of this type of plumbing abuse is new plumbing.

Here are 4 things you can do to unclog your sink after a chemical solution has let you down.

Plunge Your Sink

Many people know that plunging a toilet pushes water through a plumbing system, but they forget that drains can be plunged as well.

If you opt to plunge, keep two important points in mind:

Always use a plunger that is designed specifically for drains. For this type of job, you’ll want to use a cup plunger.
Block off your sink’s overflow drain so that air can’t escape and you can effectively force water down your drain.

Invest in a Plumbing Snake

Plumbing snakes are useful items that anyone can buy at a local hardware store. Snaking your pipes yourself, make sure that the snake is thin enough to easily fit down your drain. The last thing you want is for this lengthy piece of equipment to get stuck in your plumbing.

Snake your drain until you hit the clog and then slowly pull it back up in an effort to remove it. Remember, if you find yourself snaking beyond two feet before hitting your clog, it’s likely you have a deeper clog on your hand that requires the touch of a local plumber.

Try a Natural Unclogging Solution

Once you’ve safely drained any standing water or plumbing solution, try unclogging with a more natural route:

Pour one cup of baking soda down the drain
Follow that with one cup of white vinegar
Wait 15-30 minutes and simultaneously boil a gallon of water
Pour the boiling water down your drain, essentially flushing the broken-down clog through your plumbing

Hire a Local Plumber for Help

If the first 3 solutions didn’t work, this means your clog is either in your P trap or goes deeper into your plumbing system. In these cases, you don’t want to get dirty or risk further damage to your pipes.

Reach out to a local plumber to come to examine your clog. If you’re located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, our licensed plumber can quickly diagnose the problem and get to the root of a solution in no time at all and at less cost than replacing damaged pipes.

Keep Your Plumbing Intact After a Clog, With, With Plumbing Dynamics

If you have a clog in your Dallas home or office that won’t quit, let the master plumbers at Plumbing Dynamics help. No matter the issue, our Dallas plumbers have the experience and equipment to effectively get your pipes flowing again.