Keep your sink clean and free from clogs
Baking soda and vinegar are some of the disinfectants you can use to clean a sink. Net photo
An empty sink is almost as rare as the blue moon in most homes because the kitchen is the heart of the family and the sink is its heartbeat. No matter how vigilant one is, there will always be a random cup, plate or pan waiting to be cleaned. This busy traffic results in sloppiness that leads to clogs.
A clogged sink does not only stop water from being emptied into the sewage system but also causes flush backs that come with a foul smell and partially decomposed food particles.
How to prevent the sink from clogging
Moses Mbaale, a plumber at Munyoyo says the biggest cause for sink clogs are food particles. To avoid this, make sure you clean up the plates and plans before putting them in the sink to be washed.
“But in case the food particles get onto the sink whole, do not force them to go down the drainage because this is what actually causes the blockage due to the fact that food takes a little long to decompose. Carefully remove it and dispose it properly,” says Mbaale.
He advises people to carry out a general cleaning at least twice in a month or if possible every weekend so that there are no chances of the clogging taking place.
Kitchen items that can be used
Patience Asiimwe, manager at Palo Fast foods says cleaning a sink can be tricky unless you know exactly what to do. She recommends a number of home remedies that will help you keep your sink safe from clogs.
Hot water is the best that a person can use because it is always at your reach as long as you make it a point to boil. All you need do is pour hot water into the sink every time you finish washing the dishes.
This helps wash off the fats or greasy substances which could have remained in the interior pipes and could build up and make the particles fail to move hence causing a blockage.
Another very effective kitchen ingredient you can also use is vinegar which contains some acids that can remove some the remains that may build up in the pipe. All you need to do is pour a generous amount of vinegar in the drain and leave it for some time then you can flash it with hot water which will remove the dirt.
“Lemon and baking soda always do the magic for me because they have strong agents which get the clogs off the sink within no time and also take away the bad smell that may result from the blockage,” says Asiimwe.
All you need to do is get a portion of baking soda, squeeze some lemon into it then you can follow it with hot water which will let go down the drainage and washing off the oils that may cause a blockage.
She urges people not to wait for the sink to get blocked for them to clean the sink. Cleaning properly on a daily basis will in turn keep way the need for an expert cleaner which saves money and inconveniences.
In case of blockage
Mbaale says in case the sink is blocked and is at its initial stages, then you can use plunger which is a-must-have at home for such emergencies. This will exert force into the drainage and push the particles blocking the sink down the drainage.
“If it is severe, you can use a chemical called eco lab to quicken the action. First you pour hot water into the drainage and then the chemical which will stay there for about 30 minutes before you can flash it with hot water,” he advises.
If the sink is still blocked after trying all those, then it advisable to call in an expert who may have to open the bottle trap and find out what exactly is causing the blockage and then rectify the problem.
HOME REMEDIES FOR CLEANING SINKS
Use baking soda to clean solid surfacing such as Corian. Sinks made of nonporous, acrylic-based solid surfacing are relatively stain-resistant and easy to clean. But they do need to be kept up. For routine cleaning, use soapy water or a solid-surface cleaner specially formulated for solid surfacing. Rub out stains with baking soda and water mixed to a toothpaste-like consistency. Apply the paste with a nonabrasive white scrubbing pad, and rinse thoroughly.
Use vinegar on your lime. The white spots that you have so much trouble cleaning off the faucets are lime deposits from mineral-rich hard water. They’re very easy to remove with a secret ingredient that’s already in your pantry: vinegar. Soak a paper towel in vinegar, and wrap the towel around the spotted area. Wait 10 minutes and then buff with a dry paper towel. This works well on all fixtures except brass or colored fixtures; using vinegar on these surfaces may discolor them.
Scrub that dirty sink. You would think that with all the soap and water that flow through sinks that they’d be perpetually clean—but that’s not so. Soap deposits, food stains, rust, and water spots will all build up if you don’t stay on top of them. How often you should scrub a sink depends on how much use it gets: Scrub a bathroom sink after about 30 uses. A good recipe for a clean sink is a squirt of dishwashing liquid added to a bowl of warm water. Dip a sponge in the mixture, and scrub gently. If you want to give the sink a more thorough scrub, try an all-purpose cleaning spray or a nonabrasive cleaner.
