Thanks everyone.

Since it is not a clog just a slow running drain I am going to try a foaming cleaner first.
I am thinking the bottom part of the disposal just may need to be cleaned.

At least since it is not stopped up. I can flush it out with fresh water then teach my wife how to take the trap off the disposal and look to see if that is what is making it run slow .
Thankful it is only less than a foot from the 4" main stub up drain right under the sink.

Once again thanks

Some of them work very well. But it depends on what you're dealing with, and you have no good way of knowing. Could be an object, hair, grease build up, soap build up, old galvanized pipe closing up. They'll work on some things and not others. If you pour lots of cooking residue down the drain, which probably has a lot more oil/grease than you realize, or if you just straight up our grease and oil down the drain... no doubt that's what it is.

Last year my kitchen drain kept draining real slow. Having been in the drain cleaning business, I have all the machines at my disposal, but still kept using liquid stuff on it because it was easier. It helped for a while, but didn't solve it and didn't last. I finally got tired of it and took the pipe down one night to find it 90% blocked with grease, for about a 12 foot run. That was my kitchen, someone who spent his whole life dealing with that stuff, that knows better, so I'm really careful not to pour grease/oil down the drain. But not as careful as I thought I was I guess and like I said, things I did put down the drain obviously had a lot more fat/oil than I realized.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
On their own they can clean but together they can only power a bathtub submarine.

You're showing your age.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
On their own they can clean but together they can only power a bathtub submarine.

You're showing your age.

Least he didn’t say “deploy the swimmer”

Okay, I tried the vinegar and baking soda first for shits an giggles. So far the drain seams to be running a little better, we will see how it does over the weekend.
If it continues to run slow then we go to the foaming drain cleaner.
As a last resort my wife learn plumbing

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
A cheap method is to use some baking soda with vinegar.

This won’t do anything other than create bubbles. I’ve just never understood all the claims that mixing these cleans things or clears drains or any other myriad of cures. Vinegar and baking soda neutralize each other. On their own they can clean but together they can only power a bathtub submarine.

I'm not much into cleaning but when we were selling the last house, I used it to clean the bathroom and the showers. The chemical reaction between the two is what makes it effective. I can vouch for this because I used UV light before and after to confirm. Soap scum cleaned up nicely.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
A cheap method is to use some baking soda with vinegar.

This won’t do anything other than create bubbles. I’ve just never understood all the claims that mixing these cleans things or clears drains or any other myriad of cures. Vinegar and baking soda neutralize each other. On their own they can clean but together they can only power a bathtub submarine.

I'm not much into cleaning but when we were selling the last house, I used it to clean the bathroom and the showers. The chemical reaction between the two is what makes it effective. I can vouch for this because I used UV light before and after to confirm. Soap scum cleaned up nicely.

Cleaning soap scum needs acid. The reaction between the 2 probably did little, but vinegar alone will do wonders. I will put a bit of Dawn in it so it sticks to the shower doors or whatever for a while. That seems to work very good.

Anyhow, the initial reaction does release some create some carbonic acid, which quickly off-gases and leaves you with basically salty water. I guess it could do something in the way of cleaning, but you would get better results with vinegar alone.

I wonder if salt can break down the biofilm on the pipes?

Salt water breaks down a lot of natural barriers and I suspect the “grease buildup” on a pipe is more of a biofilm

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
I wonder if salt can break down the biofilm on the pipes?

Salt water breaks down a lot of natural barriers and I suspect the “grease buildup” on a pipe is more of a biofilm

I think usually clogs are a combo of soap scum and grease. I'm sure there's plenty of bacteria/biofilm too. But the restriction is more likely the thick sludge of soap and grease.

In any case, you'd need a high concentration of salt and biofilm is incredibly resilient. Even super high caustic washes can sometimes be ineffective on biofilm. It's a big issue in my industry (biotech).

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
I am not big on drain cleaner chemicals. In my experience, not only do they not work very well, if at all, they often make the clog worse by loosening things up enough so that they can compact into an even tighter mass. If the clog is in the trap, I have found nothing better than those plastic strips with little teeth on them, like these, much less hassle than a traditional snake.

At least once a year I pull out a hamster sized hairball with one of those.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Br...AvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
A cheap method is to use some baking soda with vinegar.

This won’t do anything other than create bubbles. I’ve just never understood all the claims that mixing these cleans things or clears drains or any other myriad of cures. Vinegar and baking soda neutralize each other. On their own they can clean but together they can only power a bathtub submarine.

Yep, baking soda is a base (alkaline) and vinegar is an acid. Mixed together in the proper proportions they create H2O. If the mixture of one of the two is heavily biased in the mixture. least case it will be a very weak acid or base, neither of which is a good cleaner. Now it does bubble for 30 seconds or so when mixed, so I guess there is a bit of cleaning potential there or it might just make people think it's working. Better off just using one or the other, and never mix with vinegar with hydrogen peroxide. This produces a very toxic gas, a peracetic acid, which the fumes can cause all sorts of medical issues.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
A cheap method is to use some baking soda with vinegar.

This won’t do anything other than create bubbles. I’ve just never understood all the claims that mixing these cleans things or clears drains or any other myriad of cures. Vinegar and baking soda neutralize each other. On their own they can clean but together they can only power a bathtub submarine.

I just recently used vinegar and baking soda on a sink in my bathroom that was draining very slowly and after a couple of applications my drain is draining a lot faster so for me the baking soda/vinegar trick worked.

Don't forget to wear eye protection.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

At least once a year I pull out a hamster sized hairball with one of those.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Br...AvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have about three of those. How do you use it? Do you just leave it in the drain and pull it out once a year or do you use it to fish out stuff? I have yet to use mine.

Best stuff I've found is Drain Punch. Odorless and works great on slow drains. My plumber is the one who recommended it for me.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
On their own they can clean but together they can only power a bathtub submarine.

You're showing your age.

Good memories from the 60s. Bathtub submarines and wind-up PT-109 boats.

I'd say they only work about 25% of the time. A zip it, looks like a long tie wrap, works really well a lot of the times and is less than $5 at home depot and you just stick it down the drain and work it back and forth, super easy.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

At least once a year I pull out a hamster sized hairball with one of those.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Br...AvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have about three of those. How do you use it? Do you just leave it in the drain and pull it out once a year or do you use it to fish out stuff? I have yet to use mine.

When the drain starts getting slow, run that down the drain and pull it back up. The little spikes on the edges grabs the hair and other nasty gunk. I usually push/pull a few times before I pull it completely out.

I've found these work much better then chemicals.

quote:

When the drain starts getting slow, run that down the drain and pull it back up. The little spikes on the edges grabs the hair and other nasty gunk. I usually push/pull a few times before I pull it completely out.

Yep.

If the stopper is in a sink drain you will probably have to remove that. They work great in my shower drain where I just remove the cover and put that thing down until it grabs the hair.
Just keep working it up and down until you come up empty. If you pull the hair out and throw it in your trash can you don't have to worry about it being pushed farther down the pipe and causing clogs farther away where you can't reach them.

After removing the hair, and while the cover is still off the drain I usually put some baking soda down and about an hour later after it has done its thing alone I throw down a half cup of vinegar which makes the fizz. I'm not sure if it does much more than just the zip-it but the pipe does LOOK cleaner.