What Is The Best Way To Clean Drains In Your Home?

cropped picture of a woman trying to clean a drain

What Is The Best Way To Clean Drains In Your Home?

By : Sophie
Drains are among the most important elements of your household drainage system. They are integral for carrying water to your property’s sewage system. Household drains are in the kitchen, bathroom and outdoor areas to prevent flooding and ensure dirty water from washing, bathing, and cleaning leaves your house or unit properly. These fixtures require regular cleaning as they become clogged due to soap scum, grime, dirt, hair, and other contaminants. You can hire professional cleaners offering house cleaning and end of lease cleaning services in Darwin to deeply sanitise your home as per requirement. However, for optimum functionality and clean drains at all times, here is your complete guide outlining the best ways to unclog and sanitise drains in the shower, kitchen and outdoor area. Have a look.

How To Clean Shower or Bathtub Drains?

Drain in the shower and bathtub are among the dirtiest in your house because they accumulate dust, dirt, soap scum and hairs. Here are the steps you need to follow to unclog it.
  • Remove the mesh cover and pour boiling water into the drain.
  • Use a snake drain to pull out clumps of hair, scum, dirt and other physical contaminants.
  • You can use commercial drain cleaners to wash the fixture. But, they contain harsh and corrosive chemicals that cause serious respiratory conditions. Thus, limit your exposure to the chemicals by using drain cleaners only when the fixture is heavily soiled.
  • Instead, sanitise the drains with white vinegar and baking soda. Make a mixture of the ingredients in equal proportions and pour it into the drain.
  • Let the bubble subside completely & wait for 15 minutes before washing all the residues and grime with boiling water.

How To Clean Sink Drain or Garbage Disposal in Kitchen?

For a clean sink drain or garbage disposal, pour a cup of bleach in the fixture at least twice a week. Bleach will help keep the drain sanitary and prevent the build-up of illness-causing pathogens that induce viral and bacterial infections. Additionally, use the following cleaning method to sanitise the drain.
  • Pour boiling water, then a cup of baking soda.
  • Over the powder, pour a cup of cleaning vinegar that has about 6% of acetic acid.
  • Leave the ingredients to react and dissolve grime, soap scum and gunk for at least 30 minutes.
  • Wash everything down with boiling water again.
There is another cleaning method that you can use to sanitise the garbage disposal. It will also help sharpen the blades of the equipment.
  • Fill an ice tray with white vinegar and put one or two lemon wedges in each cube.
  • Freeze the ingredients.
  • Run the water and turn on the disposal.
  • Put a few cubes in the disposal and let them dissolve.
  • Turn off the equipment and water.
Using these cleaning methods, you can have unclogged fixtures at all times. Thus, you can prevent bad odour in your kitchen and keep illness-causing bacteria, viruses and other pathogens from growing in the drains.

How To Clean Outdoor Drains?

Outdoor drains are usually heavily soiled due to environmental elements like leaves, roots, dust, dirt, mould, etc. Besides covering them with mesh lids and other properties items, you should clean them every few months or after a seasonal change. This habit will help to maintain the proper functionality of these fixtures and prevent them from clogging.
  • Using a drain snake or coat hanger, you can manually remove the debris and garbage in and surrounding the drains.
  • If required, agitate debris and gunk stuck in the drain with a plunger to unclog them.
  • Pour boiling water into the drains to wash down grime and gunk.
  • Additionally, you can sanitise them with high-pressure water jetting machines. The pressure washer can easily remove mould, build-up and other debris from the drains.
Note: If you don’t have the right equipment or lack knowledge to clean outdoor doors, don’t hesitate to take the assistance of professionals, especially at the end of a tenancy. Hire professional end of lease cleaners in Darwin to sanitise your rental property’s indoor and outdoor areas as per requirement.

How To Remove Hard Water Deposits?

Hard water stains are difficult to remove, and they impact the structural integrity of drains. To remove them naturally, you can use white vinegar. After cleaning the drains, spray them with undiluted vinegar and saturate the mineral stains for at least an hour. If the solution dries before the dwell time is over, respray as per requirement. Next, scrub with soapy water and a firm bristled brush, then wash the residues with warm water.

The Bottom Line

Drains are integral parts of your home’s plumbing system, which is why you need to keep them clean. They can clog due to grime, debris and hairs, which reduces their functionally and makes them smell bad. You can hire professional cleaners offering house cleaning or end of lease cleaning services in Darwin for deeply sanitising your home. But, follow this guide for maintaining general sanitation of drains to clean them without hassle.