English
Arabic
Toilet sinks can be one of the most space-saving and economical additions to your bathroom. Be it your home or office, installing this nifty appliance will help you save water and minimize your utility bills too. But one of the most pathetic situations will arise when you find your toilet sink blocked.
The mechanism behind toilet sinks is quite fragile, to be honest. And it’s not very uncommon for the internal plumbing to clog up every once in a while. Although the incident may put you in a sticky situation and mess up your mood at the start of a day, there is actually no way of avoiding it.
Luckily, there are some easy fixes that you can try yourself to solve the issue of toilet sink blocked.
In this article, we bring some of the easiest and simplest DIY solutions that you can implement by yourself. You don’t need that many exclusive tools or equipment either.
Just follow through with our step-by-step guide, where we will demonstrate the procedure. Hopefully, the toilet sink blocked issue will be resolved sooner than you can imagine.
Why it happens
Toilet sink blocked issues are relatively common, especially in households with children and women. Some of the most common culprits behind clogging up the plumbing inside the appliance are hair, toothpaste, soap scum, thick shampoo residuals, grooming chemicals, and so on.
These materials simply deposit inside the plumbing and block the drain in the sink or toilet to create a clog.
In most cases, it’s the drainage outlet of the sink on top of the appliance that is clogged.
The plumbing inside the toilet or cistern can sometimes get jammed too. But that is a sporadic case.
In the most extreme conditions, the clog can be entirely impenetrable. Then you’ll need to opt for expert assistance from a professional plumber definitely.
But most of the time, some simple hacks and manoeuvres will hopefully resolve the situation.
How to Identify if the toilet sink blocked
Clogs that block the toilet sink can actually build up over time. You might not even realize that you’re in for a world of trouble right now as gunk deposits are slowing piling up inside the drains. Letting it slowly build up can lead to a catastrophic plumbing desire one morning when you wake up.
So it’s best to keep your toilet sink in check. Based on expert plumbing advice, there are some clear signs that you can monitor to identify the problem before it gets out of hand. Here are a few symptoms:
- Water pooling around the drainage outlet
- Slow clearing of wastewater
- A foul stench from Toilet sink or toilet
- Visual gunk or clog inside the drain
What to do when the toilet sink blocked?
Like we said earlier that the most effective solutions are the simplest. None of them are abrasive or use any toxic chemicals that might harm your skin (except Caustic Soda). But before attempting any of these techniques at home, we suggest you read through the entire article at least once and gather all the tools and equipment you’ll need.
Most of the fixes in this article are aimed at clearing up the clog in the sink drain. However, they are all tried and tested to work just as effectively for the clogs in the toilet drains and cisterns.
Boiling Water
This is, by far, the simplest and easiest fix to the problem. It surprisingly works for 90% of cases if you can identify the problem in its preliminary stages.
- Boil water in a kettle or pot.
- Slowly pour it down the clogged drain to clear out tepid water or soap scum.
- Repeat it three or four times until you see the drainage flow returning to normal
Baking Soda with Vinegar & Salt
- Take equal portions of vinegar and baking soda in a small cup.
- Stir it nicely with a stick until it creates a fizzy appearance on the top
- Add salt to the mixture as an external additive to strengthen.
- Pour the fizzy solution over the drain and leave it overnight.
- The fizzing action will create an aggressive chemical reaction and clear out the gunk.
- Simply flush tap water over the drain in the morning to clean up the pipeline.
Caustic Soda (Sodium Hydroxide)
Precaution: Wear rubber gloves and goggles before attempting this solution. Sodium Hydroxide is highly reactive when it reacts with water and can burn your skin if handled without care.
- Mix cold water with caustic soda in equal portions
- Stir it nicely with a wooden spatula until it creates a fizzy appearance on the top
- Please handle it with care as it will also be producing enough heat that it might burn your hands.
- Pour the fizzy solution over the drain and leave it for half an hour.
- The fizzing action will create an aggressive chemical reaction and clear out the gunk.
- Carefully pour boiling water over the drain to clean up the pipeline.
Wet Vacuuming
This fix is more of an expensive option and can’t be done with cheap hardware lying around the house. You’ll need a shop vacuum to attempt it.
- Set the shop vacuum settings to wet.
- Cover the outlet vent with tape or plastic.
- Seal the drain with a tight cover so that the vacuum can exert maximum suction pressure.
- Max up the power settings on the vacuum
- This should clear out and potential gunk or blockage.
Using a Wire Hanger
Just like professional snake guns used by plumbers, you can remodel a simple wire hanger to fish out any physical guck or hair residue that might cause a toilet sink blocked. Although it’s a creative technique, it’s somewhat useful nonetheless.
However, we’ve left this method for the last because it’s quite risky. Without proper guidance, you might actually mess up the internal plumbing and damage it beyond repair. So leave this method as a last resort when all other processes have failed.
- Turn off the water supply to your toilet sink.
- Remove the stopper by pressing the spring clip attached to the pivot rod and the clevis strap.
- Wash the stopper under running water in another sink or submerge it in a bowl of clean water
- Use rubbing alcohol or bleach to get rid of all dirt and debris.
- Fashion the wire hanger into a shape like a fishing hook or back scratcher and bend it to fit inside the internal pipes
- Lower the hook through the pipeline until the blockage obstructs you.
- Twist and pivot the wire as much as you can to attach the most gunk to the hook
- Pull up the wire and clean it out.
- Rinse and repeat as many times as necessary. Use a toothbrush for additional help in cleaning.
- Reassemble the stopper after you’re satisfied with the outcome
- Run some hot water down the drain to clear out any residual gunk.
For further assistance, you can refer to this video.
Bottom Line
That wraps it up. All these methods are home-grown and found adequate in solving the problem of toilet sink blocked. We suggest trying them out one by one down the list, and hopefully, you’ll be out of your sticky situation very soon.
However, if these methods fail to solve your problem, we would definitely recommend opting for professional help. Call a local plumber or find someone who will take a look at the situation at a reasonable price. There are plenty of options out there, and you can find one that suits your requirements.
Leave Your Comment