Sink Drain Hack: Or How To Avoid Buying a Snake

There was a clog deep down in my bathroom sink and, after unsuccessfully trying a liquid unclogging product, I realized I had to call my apartment maintenance person to come snake the problem. And while I do see how satisfying it must be to use a snake to break up a pipe clog and hear the water drain unobstructed, I personally don't want to invest in a snake.

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Also, a snake is not really proactive in the world of clogs. So how can I stop the hair before it becomes lodged in the pipe? I was going to purchase a sink suction cup hair catcher, but my local Ace Hardware didn't have it on hand. They did have a Sink Shroom, but I didn't want to pay $15 for it and also no longer be able to plug my sink.

Impatience set in -- I couldn't even handle the 2-day Prime waiting time for the suction cup hair catcher -- so I just decided to see what I could make from the hallowed halls of my local Ace Hardware. I told an employee there what I had in mind and, after thinking about a few ideas, I came home with the following:

(Quick thank-you to the helpful Ace Hardware employee who thought to show me the dryer lint snare. I love repurposing stuff!)

MATERIALS:

• Sink stopper (if yours blew up and broke like mine did)
• Lint snare (not the aluminum kind)
• Cable ties (check to see if they are already included in your lint snare pack)
• This video will help you sort out the ball/pivot rod part of your sink.

Turns out I didn't need to buy additional cable ties -- there were two included in the lint snare pack. 

Broken sink stopper

Oh -- I didn't tell you why I needed a brand new sink stopper. A couple of days after I had tried the liquid drain unclogger, something down in the pipes exploded! I had left the stopper down, left the house, and when I came back, the sink stopper was sitting in the sink, outside of the drain, and my sink was covered in silt from the pipes! I don't know if this had anything to do with the liquid I poured down the drain, or if another apartment was having clogged and this was a result of someone else trying to solve the problem. In any case, my stopper was broken! The little plastic loop that the ball rod hooks into was busted!

1. Place the stopper in the lint snare bag so that there is excess over the top. The excess will give you some wiggle room for the next step.

2. Weave a cable tie through the mesh, right underneath the gasket. 

Fasten the cable as tightly as possible. Trim excess cable.

3. Trim off the excess lint snare from the top.

4. Billow the lint snare out a bit from the middle of the stopper and, again, weave the second cable tie through the mesh and around the bottom part of the stopper, above the ball/pivot rod loop. 

Trim excess cable.

 

Looking down into the drain you can see the end of the ball/pivot rod that sticks through stopper loop.

5. Cut a hole in one side of the lint snare in front of the stopper loop so the ball/pivot rod will fit.

6. And the stopper is ready to be put into place!

The finished product!

7. Clean out the lint snare periodically. It'll be better than dealing with a legit clog, right?