21 July 2013

You Don’t Need to Spend $10 on a Gadget to Clear Your Drains


Wayne and I just sat down for a cuppa because we've been working in the garden since lunchtime (it's freezing cold, about 10 degrees, but beautifully sunny) and we've just seen an ad on TV for yet another handy-dandy gadget, the Turbo Snake. It's designed to clear your clogged drains.

You don’t need it! Your drains don't need it! Your cupboards don't need the clutter ('cos you just know it sounds like a great little tool but it'll be put away and forgotten about faster than you can tell anyone about it)! It's really not long enough to clear anything other than a small clog in the first bend of the drain - some clogs are further along!

It's really easy to keep your drains clean and free-flowing, without cluttering up your home.

You just need some bicarb soda, salt, vinegar and boiling water - common household items and all found in most Cheapskates' homes.

To clean your kitchen and laundry drains pour 1 cup salt and 1 cup of bicarb soda down the drain. Follow with 1/2 cup of vinegar and quickly put the plug in, because it will bubble and fizz and come up out of that drain like a volcano spewing hot lava. Let it sit for 15 minutes while you boil the kettle. Pull the plug and pour the kettle of boiling water down the drain. Listen to it as it gurgles freely away.

To help dissolve scum and hair in sluggish bathroom shower, basin and bath drains, pour a mixture of 1 cup salt, 1 cup bicarb soda and ½ cup white vinegar into the drain. Put the plug in (remember the spewing volcano of bubbles). Let it sit for 15 minutes, bubbling away dissolving grease and fat and gunk, then flush with a kettle full of boiling water followed by flushing hot tap water down the drain for 1 minute. You can repeat this process if necessary.

The salt will keep small roots from taking up residence in your pipes.

To help keep drains from clogging up remember to never, ever pour oil or fat down them. And get a little drain strainer to hold back any solids that might accidentally end up in the sink (peas off plates, stray hair in the bathroom). You can get them at any hardware shop and most discount department stores and supermarkets, they're not expensive and do a great job of keeping rubbish out of your drains and the sewer.

Make a note to do your drains once a month, perhaps on the first or as a part of your housekeeping routine and you won't need to worry about clogs or expensive plumber's bills and you won't need to buy a gadget either.


That said, we've had a wonderful day in the garden. As I mentioned above, it was freezing cold, only 1 degree when we went outside at 11am. It was a beanie and boots day, I must've looked a sight but at least I was warm.

We weeded and trimmed and pruned, it's not the right time I know but the tree in question was scratching and scraping on the pergola roof - not good in the winds we've had the last few days.

I pulled the last of the tomatoes from the garden at last, although there were still some flowers and fruit on the bushes - Tommy Toes -I don't think they would ever have stopped fruiting. I also picked the last three cabbages and a huge bunch of silverbeet.

Wayne shovelled on some compost and Thomas raked it in for me while Hannah and I cleaned the paving and swept for cobwebs. Mum and I are starting to plan our summer gardens and I want the empty beds to sit for a few weeks before I plant into them again. It will give the compost time to break down and give the soil a very tiny rest.

We also mulched the strawberries and prepared the spud bags ready to plant next year's potato crop.

Hannah picked three lemons.

By mid-afternoon it had been sunny and windy long enough for the grass to be almost dry enough to mow, so mow Wayne did. Thankfully this time of year the grass doesn't grow very fast so it was really just trimming the straggly tops.

Hannah and I followed behind sweeping the paths and weeding the pots.

By which time it was 3 o'clock, I was well and truly ready to stop for a cuppa and it was time to get the roast on for tea.

Which takes me back to the very beginning and the ad for the drain unclogger gadget that you don't need to buy.

1 comment:

  1. I came across your blog and found your article on drain cleaning very informative, you have some great advice for people to follow, I especially like the item on vegie gardening as I am starting my own. I am also a blogger on debt free living in Australia and don't wish to go against your policy of advertising on your site, but would be blessed if you would add my site to your blog reading list.

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