How to Clean Out Your Sink Drain

Whether you lost something valuable down there, or it's just time to clean out the build-up, this tutorial will show you how to get inside your sink drain...

Other than a renovation, there are really only two reasons that people try to take apart their sink drains. Sometimes, you're standing over the sink getting ready, and drop something important, (like jewelry), and it slips away down the hole to who-knows-where. Other times, your sink drain fills up with accumulated debris, and gradually drains slower and slower, until you're so fed up that it's worth it to do something about it.

Whatever your motivation, the procedure is the same. You're going to have to open up that dark pipe. And then, you've got to get it back together. It's not as daunting as it seems though.

Start by clearing out everything under your cabinet that you don't want to have skanky water dumped all over. If you've got a bucket, or a disposable foil tray, that you can stick right under the pipes, that will help contain the mess. Just don't use anything that you're planning to eat out of later. Trust me, you're never going to be able to wash it enough to want to eat off it after drainpipe sludge has been in it.

Look under your sink for your U-pipe. It's exactly what it sounds like, a section of pipe that's shaped like the letter U. One side of the U will be coming straight down from your sink drain. There will be two thick areas, that look like a collar around the pipe. These are where two sections of pipe are connect together. One of the collars will probably be higher than the other. (The one directly under the drain will be the higher one.)

You're going to twist those collars, so that they loosen up and let you remove that U-shaped section of pipe. You might want to be wearing gloves for this part, because once that section comes off, it's going to spill out the icky water/sludge.