Homemade Foaming Drain Cleaner

Between a long-haired Dachshund and my male pattern baldness, the drain in my shower has seen better days. But before heading out to reluctantly buy a bottle of horrible liquid drain opener, I did a little sleuthing for an effective, non-toxic alternative I could make myself.

Sure enough — success!

Try this:

1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup vinegar
Pan of boiling water

Dump your baking soda down the clogged drain, then slowly chase it with the vinegar. (If your drain is particularly troublesome, use a full cup of each.) The vinegar and baking soda will react like those model volcanoes from science class, so pour slowly but consistently.

After you’ve poured the last of your vinegar down the drain, let the froth sit and do its thing for about 5 minutes, then wash everything down with a medium-sized pan of boiling water from the stove.

Voilà.

While it’s not perfect, it works about as well as a Drano or a Liquid Plummr. (Which, let’s be honest, always wind up disappointing.) Plus, it’s dirt cheap, uses what you’ve already got lying around, and is totally non-toxic — so you can feel good about what you’re flushing out to sea.

Happy unclogging.

7 responses to “Homemade Foaming Drain Cleaner”

Could you please put a Pinterest Pin for your newsletter articles so I can post them onto some of my Boards. Thank You, Linda

The Crunchy Urbanite October 31, 2013 at 11:06 am · · Reply →

Hey, Linda. I’ve been meaning to figure out how to integrate Pin-It buttons in images hosted within WordPress blogs, so yes, that’s definitely on the way! In the meantime, you can also add a Pin-It button feature to your browser and pin any image from any website to your Pinterest boards. (If you haven’t already installed it, go here: https://en.help.pinterest.com/entries/22997343-Add-the-Pin-It-button) Most browsers are supported. (PS. Thanks for wanting to pin my stuff! Honored…)

Reblogged this on almost exactly and commented:
i have a total crunchy crush on this guy and his blog! you should, too!! check out this drain cleaner! y’all already have the ingredients 😉

I love using BS/V as a drain cleaner; I have been using it for a couple of month. Between coconut oil based toothpaste, oil pulling, and the oil cleansing method I am using it to clean my drain about once a week.

The Crunchy Urbanite December 9, 2013 at 4:47 pm · · Reply →

I know, right? I just discovered baking soda and vinegar makes for a fantastic stainless steel scrub, too — perfect for scuzzy apartment kitchen sinks like mine.
- Nikki @ Giant Fork and Spoon Society December 9, 2013 at 5:16 pm · ·
  
  I didn’t even think about trying it on stainless, but I know it woks as a silver polish so that makes sense. I may have to go on a holiday cleaning binge now lol.