Cleaning the siphon under the sink with female hands

Cleaning the siphon under the sink is one of the most joyless activities for a woman. You can, of course, call the plumber and delegate this work to him, but sometimes you have to overcome such difficulties yourself. And not just to overcome, but so that the process delivers a minimum of inconvenience. Since I had to eliminate blockages in the sink more than once, now I can summarize the accumulated experience and share it with everyone.

Why clean the siphon?

Many people believe (and I thought so) that a bent pipe under the sink exists in order to complicate people's lives. If there wasn’t there, there wouldn’t have been many problems related to the fact that the sink clogged.

In fact, the siphon has two functions:

• Firstly, it is a water seal. It acts as a barrier between the central sewer and the kitchen, preventing unpleasant odors from seeping into the room. It works like this: after using the sink, part of the water flows through the pipes, and part remains in the siphon cup, forming a kind of cork. Over time (for example, with a long departure of residents), this water evaporates - and after returning the apartment owners can feel the stench coming from the sink.
• Secondly, it is a garbage collector. If there was no siphon under the sink, all large items that accidentally fell into the drain hole or were thrown there on purpose, would go further and form a blockage no longer in an easily accessible place, but somewhere where you couldn’t get without a specialized tool and considerable financial expenses . This would make it difficult to use and maintain sewer networks.

Based on the foregoing, it turns out that it is necessary to clean the siphon to maintain hygiene (if it contains not clean water, but rotting food debris, the sink will become a source of bad smell), as well as to maintain the functionality of the drainage system.

Popular ways to eliminate blockage in the sink

According to the plumbers, the siphon needs to be cleaned regularly - at least once a month, and not when it no longer passes water. In this I agree with them, but laziness is laziness, so most often you have to take up a plunger after the appearance of distinct symptoms of blockage. And not only for the plunger, because there are at least three ways to remove the garbage "plug" in the sink. All of them have been tested by me personally, and I have something to say about each of them.

Chemistry

For the first time I had to use a tool for cleaning pipes in a distant youth. Parents went to visit friends, and I stayed at home as a mistress. She drank freedom for several days, eating up supplies from the refrigerator, and then came to the conclusion that if one did not start cooking, then starvation would be more than a real threat. It is easy to guess what the ending of my stay in the kitchen was like - the sink drain was clogged with “runaway” pasta and rice, pieces of vegetables that remained on the grater, and other culinary waste.

There was nothing to do - before the parents arrived, there was nothing left, so I had to run to the store for some kind of life-saving tool. They, according to the saleswoman, was the "Mole" - cheap, but no less effective. Looking ahead, I’ll say that he didn’t save me from catching up and only recently I understood why:

• Caustic powders and liquids are effective if fatty growth or deposits of mineral salts form in any part of the pipe. They also have the strength of organics (hair, wool). But the ground, which is washed off from vegetables and settles in a siphon, or food particles available to ordinary citizens do not dissolve.At least in the blink of an eye.
• The larger the blockage, the more time it takes for the remedy to eliminate it. Sometimes it may take several days or even a week. Throughout this period, it is impossible to use the sink for its intended purpose, which creates great inconvenience.

In general, “Mole” and similar inventions of the chemical industry are good only for the prevention of blockages.

Plunger

I will say right away: my housewife colleagues underestimate the plunger. Perhaps because they do not know how to use it, as I once did not know how. And my close acquaintance with him happened already in the days of independent life in a rented apartment. The drain system there was arranged somehow strange and wrong, which the landlord did not hide, so even on my first visit she stated that the tenant would have to regularly operate this item in order to avoid constant blockages. And what if I do not agree with this state of affairs, then I better find another option, because at the moment there is no way to completely replace the sink and pipes. Then it seemed to me a trifle, and I agreed.

However, the use of my efforts was not enough:

• Before you try to clean the siphon with air, you need to close the overflow hole (because this same air, following the path of least resistance, does not enter the siphon, but is vented out). For this purpose, it is convenient to use a piece of wet cotton fabric.
• Instead of air, which is easily compressed, it is much more efficient to use water - it can be cold, but preferably hot. True, all the garbage that will come out of the pipe will have to be immediately caught and thrown away, otherwise it will return to its original place.
• Applying force to the plunger is necessary not only when it works by blowing. Things will go faster if you sharply tear off the suction cup from the sink when air or water returns.

These secrets were told to me by a professional plumber, and now I can easily cope with small blockages. The key word here is small. If the situation is stalemate, the third remains - the most effective, but at the same time unpleasant - way to clean the siphon under the sink.

Siphon disassembly

The garbage stopper in the sink is formed according to the principle of a snowball - as soon as something remains inside the siphon, everything else immediately begins to stick to it. The “glue” is fat, water, in which pasta, sweet drinks were brewed. A humid environment contributes to rotting, so over time the blockage becomes black, and the smell emanating from it can be characterized in one word - stench. In this case, there is no choice but to disassemble the siphon.

Before embarking on such a responsible occupation, I collect from the list:

• disposable gloves (the cheapest way to buy them at the pharmacy is by the piece, without packaging);
• basin;
• several garbage or regular packages (you need to insert them into each other);
• hot water;
• sponge;
• detergent with a degreasing and antibacterial effect.

Instead of the latter, I often use a mixture of "White" (3% bleach solution) and dishwashing liquid or laundry gel.

When I first unscrewed the couplings connecting the siphon to the rest of the drainage system, only one thought was spinning in my head - at least not to break anything. But, as it turned out, breaking something is not so simple.

There are several varieties of siphons, although they are all arranged according to the same principle - somewhere below or on the side there is a special tank that resembles a cup or a barrel in shape. According to the rules, only it must be removed and washed, but dirt accumulates everywhere, and I personally do not see the point of cleaning out only 1/3 of the blockage, allowing the residue to rot further. I also strongly advise you to follow my instructions:

• We put on gloves.
• We put a basin under the sink.
• In the basin we put the unfolded packages - so that they line the bottom.
• We turn off the very cup that was discussed above.A black liquid, similar to fuel oil, will flow from it right away (we try to work so that all the dirt gets into the bag, and not into the basin or the floor). The contents of the cup, similar to soaked cotton wool, are cleaned with fingers or unnecessary chopsticks for sushi. The cup itself is put on the clean part of the bag.
• We unscrew the couplings that connect the drain pipe and overflow (if any) to the siphon. Lastly, we remove the siphon itself, unscrewing the coupling located on top. It is difficult to explain in words, but if you look at the design live, it becomes clear what exactly needs to be twisted. We remove the blockage from the siphon in the same way as from the cup. By the way, under the couplings there are gaskets that look like transparent silicone rings. They must not be thrown away or lost, otherwise the system will leak!
• We tie all the dirt into bags and throw it in the trash. We put the siphon, cup and other spare parts in a bowl, fill it with hot water, add detergent and thoroughly clean any residual dirt with a sponge. Then slip a basin under the sink and wash the pipe connectors.
• We assemble the structure back.
• We substitute the basin under the siphon, so that in case of what does not cause a flood in the kitchen, and open the tap. We look to see if drops or trickles of water appear in the places of fastenings. If not, then rejoice and leave to wash the basin from the remnants of fat; if so, then tighten the corresponding coupling stronger.

Sometimes it happens that the leak does not disappear, even if you tighten the sleeve all the way - in this case you will have to go to a hardware store and buy a bundle of cigarettes (the so-called thread sealant). After returning home, you must again remove the coupling, wrap the thread with a wagon and return the coupling to its place. The leak should stop.

All work takes 10-15 minutes. But after its successful completion, you can be proud of yourself right up to the next time and boldly tear out a page with a plumbing telephone from a notebook.

If earlier it seemed to you that cleaning the siphon under the sink was an incredibly difficult task, then I hope that I was able to convince you of this. And if you have your own secrets of how to get rid of the clog quickly and for sure, be sure to share them with me and other readers!

Tamara Voskresenskaya