Over time gunk builds up in everyone's household drains I'm sure. It happened to me with my ensuite sink recently. Hair and other bits of glop make their way into the drain and slowly begin to block the flow of water from exiting.
At first I began trying to pick the stuff out with a Q-tip. That didn't work very well. So I moved onto a screwdriver and a pair of pliers which didn't fare much better. The space was just too tight.
Being the impatient guy that I am I decided instead of trying to pull the stuff out, I'd push it through the drain and just get it over with. Well, that didn't quite work. For all my effort I just ended up completely clogging the drain. That was a dumb move.
My next bright idea was to unbend a coat hanger and force it down the drain to remove the obstruction. That didn't work either. The coat hanger was too stiff. It wouldn't bend at the elbow part of the drain pipe, so I couldn't push the blockage any further.
I then remembered seeing an ad on TV for a can of pressurized air or something that you could put over the opening of the drain and release the gas and it would clear the obstruction. Since I didn't have that handy I decided to make my own.
I looked around my place and found an empty Keri hand lotion bottle. I unscrewed the top and filled it with water. Next I half filled the sink with water and quickly flipped the bottle upside down into the drain and squeezed forcing the water out. After a few more squeezes the blockage was completely removed and the sink drained as if it were completely new.
Now I don't know if this technique will work in all cases. Perhaps if the blockage isn't too severe it has a chance. I can say it's probably safe because it's a low pressure technique. So it most likely won't damage your pipes.
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