Skip to content
Open now — dispatching 24/7 across Oklahoma Call (833) 435-9778 for same-day service

Drains & Sewers · plumbing advice

# Sink Drains Slowly? Do These Three Things Before Calling Anyone

A slow sink usually has a simple cause. Here's what to try, what to avoid, and the sign that means the problem is further down the line.

A slow drain is a warning, not an emergency. It is also the point where the repair is cheapest — a fully blocked line costs more to clear and often takes a fixture out of use in the meantime.

## 1. Clean the stopper and the trap

On bathroom sinks, the pop-up stopper collects hair and soap into a mass that sits right at the top of the drain. Pull it out, clean it, refit it. On kitchen sinks, put a bucket under the P-trap, unscrew the two slip nuts by hand, and tip the trap out. It is usually grease and food.

This solves a large share of slow drains and costs nothing.

## 2. Flush it properly

Boiling water down a kitchen drain moves soft grease along. A cup of baking soda followed by white vinegar, left for twenty minutes and chased with hot water, helps with light build-up. Neither will touch a real blockage — do not expect miracles.

## 3. Do not reach for chemical drain cleaner

Caustic drain cleaners rarely clear a genuine obstruction. They sit on top of it, generate heat, and in older Oklahoma homes with cast iron or thin-wall plastic waste pipe they can damage the pipe and the seals. They also make the line dangerous for whoever opens it next.

If two applications have not fixed it, a third will not.

## The sign that changes everything

If more than one fixture is slow at the same time — the tub and the toilet, the kitchen sink and the laundry — the problem is not in the branch line under that sink. It is in the main drain that all of them feed into.

Other tells: gurgling from one fixture when you run another, a toilet whose water level moves when the washing machine drains, and a sewage smell that comes and goes.

At that point the right move is drain cleaning on the main, and if it keeps coming back, a camera inspection to find out why. Repeated blockages in the same line almost always mean something structural: roots at a joint, a sag holding water, or scale narrowing the pipe. Hydro jetting deals with the last two properly.

Call (833) 435-9778 if you would rather skip the trial and error. Drain clearing is flat-priced per line.

> Need this sorted today? Call (833) 435-9778. We answer 24/7 across Oklahoma, quote a flat price before starting, and charge the same rate at night and on weekends.

## Related reading

Water Heaters

### Hot Water Runs Out Fast: Why, and What Actually Fixes It

If your shower goes cold in eight minutes, the tank size is often not the problem. Here's what to check before spending money.

Read →
Urgent

### How to Shut Off Your Water Main — Find It Before You Need It

Five minutes today saves thousands later. Where the main shutoff is in a typical Oklahoma home, and how to make sure it actually turns.

Read →
Drains & Sewers

### Sewer Backup Warning Signs You Should Never Ignore

Sewer backups give warning before they happen. Here are the signs, in the order they usually appear, and what each one costs to address early.

Read →

### Book a plumber near you

- Plumber in Oklahoma City, OK
- Plumber in Tulsa, OK
- Plumber in Norman, OK
- Plumber in Broken Arrow, OK
- Plumber in Edmond, OK
- Plumber in Lawton, OK
- Plumber in Moore, OK
- Plumber in Midwest City, OK
- Plumber in Enid, OK
- Plumber in Stillwater, OK
- Plumber in Owasso, OK
- Plumber in Bartlesville, OK
- All Oklahoma cities →

## Water where it shouldn't be?

Tell us what you're seeing and we'll route the closest plumber to you anywhere in Oklahoma. Price agreed before any work starts.

Call (833) 435-9778
Tap to call (833) 435-9778 — 24/7