Your Plumber Won’t Tell You About These 4 Simple Hacks

Your plumber doesn't want you to know that your kitchen pantry can save you hundreds of dollars in plumbing problems. From clearing clogged toilets with no plunger to deodorizing a smelly sink drain with vinegar and baking soda, these four hacks can save you money in plumber’s bills and can be completed in under two minutes. 

Related: This is the Dishwasher Part You Didn't Know You Had to Clean

1. The Clogged Toilet Hack

While a plunger is the first line of attack when facing off with a clogged toilet, you can still clear a clog if you don’t have this tool. You don’t need to run out to the hardware store to fix a clog. All you need is some dish soap. Here’s how it works:

The Hack 

• Squirt about half a cup of dish soap into the toilet bowl. Dawn works best but any old dish soap will do. Allow the mix to sit for about 15 minutes. 
• Meanwhile, fill a bucket with hot but not boiling water. When the 15 minutes is up, dump the bucket of hot water from waist height into the toilet bowl to clear the clog. 

Why it Works

The slippery soap serves as lubricant. It works its way down the drain pipe to lube the areas around the clog, making it easier to push it through the drain. When you dump the bucket from waist height, the weight of the water pushes down through the drain, creating enough pressure to force the clog through the pipe. 

2.  The Vinegar Bag

A clogged showerhead can reduce your water flow to a trickle, leaving you out in the cold. But you don’t need to replace it. You can fix it with a few minutes of effort and a few hours of patience using nothing but vinegar, a sandwich bag, and a rubber band.

 The Hack 

• Fill a plastic bag with 1 to 3 cups of white vinegar. 
• Use the rubber band to secure the bag of vinegar around the showerhead such that the showerhead is submerged in the vinegar. A hair tie also works if you’re out of rubber bands.
• Leave the bag in place overnight. If you have brass, gold, or nickel coated fixtures, limit the soak time for 30 minutes to avoid damaging the finish. 
• Remove the bag and enjoy the like-new showerhead.

Why it Works

The acetic vinegar dissolves the mineral scale in your water that collects inside the showerhead, opening up the spray holes. 

3. The Volcano Drain Cleaner

If you’re dealing with a persistently smelly sink drain, use this quick and easy hack that applies the volcano science experiment from your childhood. 

 The Hack 

• Separately measure out 1/2 a cup of baking soda and 1 cup of white vinegar. Don’t mix them yet!
• Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain. 
• Add 1 cup of white vinegar. Enjoy the fizzing action.  
• Wait for about 15 minutes then flush with hot water. 

Why it Works

The chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar chemical scrubs the inside of your drain pipe, removing the biofilm that’s the cause of the foul odor. 

4. Ice and Salt Disposal Scrub

Garbage disposals become coated in grease from grinding up old food, leading to nasty smells and a less effective garbage disposal. Here’s how to return it to top performing condition. 

 The Hack 

• Add about two cups of ice and 1 cup of kosher salt or rock salt to the garbage disposal. 
• Run cold water.
• Turn on the garbage disposal. The sounds should be loud and chaotic. 
• Wait for the grinding to turn into a consistent hum, then turn off the garbage disposal. 

Why it Works

The ice and salt act like tiny hammers that knock slimy residue off the garbage disposal’s impellers, effectively cleaning them.