{The Vinegar Experiment} Cleaning Stinky Drains

My experimentation with using vinegar around the household continues this month.  Last month, I showed you my results of using vinegar to remove hard water buildup.  This month, I’m tackling a stinky sink drain.

My daughters went on a trip with my sister and her husband and during their absence, their bathroom started to smell of mildew.  It took me a while to figure out the source, but it ended up being their sink drain.  Turns out that my little girls shed quite a bit of hair and then apparently wash it down the drain… leading to a nice hair plug (see what I did there) that was mildewed.  Ick.  I removed the hair and cleaned the drain plug but it still reeked of mildew, so I put vinegar to the test again.

The first step was pouring baking soda down the drain and letting it sit for a bit.

Then, pour in your vinegar.  This part is fun (remember those middle school science experiments with volcano “lava”?) – it bubbles like crazy!

This part would probably be fun for your kiddos to “help” with, although it doesn’t smell the best…

The final step is following the vinegar and baking soda with boiling water.  I used a large mixing bowl (about six cups of water) that I heated to boiling in the microwave.

While you can’t smell the results for yourself, this method did work on my stinky drain!  I had to repeat the process once to remove the smell completely, but haven’t had to bother with it since.  I’ve also started using this same method to clean my sink disposal in my kitchen – I follow it with running a lemon slice through the disposal and it smells amazing.

So two vinegar experiments down and so far it’s proving to be quite the useful, eco-friendly, and inexpensive household helper.  I can’t wait to share the next vinegar experiment.  I’m already doing it and loving the results… stay tuned!

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