How to Unclog a Drain Yourself: A Safe, Step-by-Step Guide

Before you start: stop signs and basic gear

Don't start a do-it-yourself fix, or stop partway, if any of these apply:

• More than one fixture is slow or backing up, or water comes up in a tub or shower when you flush or run the washer. That points to the main line; see our main sewer line clog signs.
• Sewage is coming up through a floor drain, tub or toilet. Stop using water and follow our guide to what to do during a sewer backup.
• You've poured a chemical drain opener and the drain is still clogged. One bleach-based gel's product page says never to plunge during or after use, because the product may still be in the drain. Read about chemical drain cleaners first.
• The same drain clogs again soon after you clear it. Something past the trap is probably catching debris; see our comparison of drain cleaning methods.

For gear, the POWER SPIN+ manual calls for safety glasses and leather work gloves, with latex or rubber gloves underneath, plus face protection if chemicals or other harmful substances may be in the drain. Keep towels and a bucket nearby, and afterward wash any skin that touched drain water with hot, soapy water.

Step 1: Plunge with the right plunger

Plunger maker Korky explains that a cup plunger is made for flat drains such as sinks, tubs and showers, while a flange or beehive plunger is shaped to seal inside a toilet's outlet. A cup plunger can't seal well in a curved toilet bowl, and a flange plunger can't seal on a flat drain. Keep one of each, and keep the toilet plunger out of the kitchen.

Sink, tub or shower

Korky's steps for plunging a sink:

1. Plug every other opening on the same drain: the overflow hole (a wet rag works), the second bowl of a double kitchen sink, and the dishwasher air gap if there is one.
2. Make sure there's enough water in the basin to cover the plunger cup.
3. Press the cup over the drain to seal it. With a pop-up stopper, you may need to hold the lift rod down so the stopper doesn't block the drain.
4. Plunge with a steady up-and-down motion for 10 to 15 seconds without breaking the seal.
5. Tilt the plunger to break the seal and see whether the water drains. Repeat a few times if it's still slow.

Korky then suggests running hot water for a few minutes to flush out loosened debris. Use hot tap water, not boiling water; the hot water section below explains why.

Toilet

1. Stop the water. If the bowl is close to overflowing, close the supply valve behind the toilet. American Standard's instructions say to turn off the water and not to keep flushing to clear the clog.
2. Protect the floor. Lay towels around the base and put on rubber gloves.
3. Seat the flange plunger in the outlet at the bottom of the bowl so the rubber cup covers the trapway hole completely.
4. Plunge vigorously. American Standard allows 5 to 10 minutes of pumping, and the water level should start to drop.
5. Test with one flush after you take the plunger out and turn the water back on. Repeat if it's still clogged.

Step 2: Clear hair from a shower or tub drain

Shower and tub clogs often sit just under the strainer, where hair and soap collect.

1. Remove the strainer or stopper; many lift out or come off with a screwdriver.
2. Pull the hair out with gloved fingers or a plastic barbed hair-removal strip, and put it in the trash rather than back down the drain.
3. Run water to test.

If you need an auger for a tub, go in through the overflow opening. The POWER SPIN+ manual says never to push the cable through the tub's drain, which damages the cable, and to remove the overflow plate and its mechanism instead.

Step 3: Clean the sink's P-trap

The U-shaped pipe under a sink, the trap, holds water to block sewer gas and often collects debris. The POWER SPIN+ manual notes that a sink's trap or cleanout plug may need to come off for access, with a container underneath to catch the water.

1. Skip this step if you've poured a chemical opener. Whatever you poured is sitting in that water.
2. Set a bucket under the trap and lay a towel on the cabinet floor.
3. Loosen the two slip nuts that hold the trap, by hand or with a wrench, and lower the trap.
4. Empty and clean it into the bucket, and look into the short pipe that runs into the wall for more buildup.
5. Reassemble with the washers seated, tighten the nuts snugly, and run water to check for drips.

For a bathroom sink with a pop-up stopper, the manual describes removing the lift rod and the stopper to reach the drain from above.

Step 4: Use a hand auger or a toilet auger

Sink, tub or shower: a hand drum auger

The POWER SPIN+ manual covers 3/4- to 1 1/2-inch drains with 25 feet of quarter-inch cable, and it says the tool isn't recommended for toilets. Its main rules:

1. Push at least a foot of cable into the drain before you start turning, so the end can't whip around.
2. Keep the tool within about 4 inches of the drain opening so the exposed cable doesn't kink.
3. Turn clockwise and feed the cable in. At resistance, work slowly and never force it.
4. If the cable stops turning or gets stuck, stop turning and back it out.
5. Once water flows, run water to flush the debris, and don't overrun the cable into a larger pipe.
6. Stop the rotation before the cable end leaves the drain, make a few passes, and rinse the cable afterward.

Toilet: a toilet auger

The K-6P toilet auger instructions describe a tool built to clean a toilet's drain through its trap:

1. Pull the cable back into the guide tube.
2. Set the end of the guide tube in the toilet's drain opening. The instructions warn that the cable and cutter can damage the porcelain.
3. Turn the handle clockwise while pushing it toward the tube to feed the cable through the trap. Sharp in-and-out thrusts help it around bends.
4. Don't force it. If the cable binds, stop turning and pull back.
5. Retract the cable while still turning clockwise, and leave the guide tube in place until the cable is fully back and has stopped spinning. Rinse the cable when you're done.

Hot water: hot from the tap, never boiling

Boiling water is a popular home remedy, but it's a poor match for plastic drain pipe. Charlotte Pipe's technical manual lists 140 degrees Fahrenheit as the maximum operating temperature for its PVC and ABS piping, and water boils at 212 degrees at sea level. Product makers stick to hot rather than boiling: American Standard's toilet tips call for hot but not boiling water, and so do the bleach-based gel's directions.

Hot water doesn't solve grease, either. Gwinnett County's fats, oil and grease page explains that hot water and soap break up oil only for a while; the oil re-forms as the water cools, sometimes before it leaves your house plumbing. For grease, prevention is the fix. See what not to flush or pour.

Next step: know when to call

If a plunger, the trap and an auger haven't cleared one fixture, the blockage is probably beyond household tools. Call a licensed plumber or drain cleaning company and tell them exactly what you tried and anything you poured. If more than one fixture is affected, sewage appears, or the drain keeps clogging, call right away instead of trying more steps.