Smelly Drains

By

Thenicholas3

Use 1/2 cup of salt (I like a more course salt, but regular salt works fine), pour this down the drain. Next pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain. Now get ready to cap the drain quickly, pour 1 cup of white vinegar down the drain and cap it until the bubbles stop, about 1 minute. Kids love watching that part. Next follow with a kettle full of boiling water. Use hot tap water to clean up any spilled salt or soda in the sink.

The salt acts as a corrosive to clean the drain walls, the baking soda is an odor absorber and acts with the vinegar to "shake-up" the salt when it bubbles and the vinegar is acidic for cleaning and an odor eliminator. The boiling water helps dissolve the salt and washes away any leftover gunk in the drain. Clean your drains once a month and it prevents clogs too.

This was taught to me by the clean water council as an alternative to the dangerous and caustic chemical drain cleaners. It's thrifty and efficient and best of all won't burn your skin or lungs like commercial cleaners.

By

leopardstripes

I've used bleach for this problem before, and it was quite effective- we have a double sink in the kitchen (no disposal), and occasionally, it gets that funky smell- I just pour about a quarter of a cup of bleach down each drain, let it set for about half an hour, and we're good to go. Good luck! :)

By Cheryl (Guest Post)

My parents had the same problem. We dumped 1/2 cup (for each drain) of vinegar down all the drains at the same time and let it sit without running water. We did that for a week, and about the 2nd day you could really tell the difference in the smell.