Have a clogged drain? No need to panic, you can fix it yourself and save loads of money by not calling the plumber! Though, if your home is flooded a plumber may be a better option. These are a few ideas to help you get the water flowing.

Use a brine solution, this is essentially sea salt in water. Even normal table salt added to hot water, preferably boiling water and then poured down the sink works for simple clogs. If this does not work immediately, use a plunger with it a few times and get out the entire gunk that comes up. After using the plunger, use the boiling water and salt solution again. To make a stronger brine solution, mix baking soda and rock salt in equal proportions with hot water and pour down the pipe.

Along with using the plunger, you may want to try to eliminate the cause of clogging. This can be done by using something long and stiff; a long piece of wire will do or even a very stiff pipe cleaner. This usually gets the job done and then follows by flushing the pipe with hot brine solution. When using the plunger, an important thing to keep in mind to make good use of it is that there needs to be water in the basin for the plunger to perform the suction action. You might want to keep some water handy in a bucket or a basin so that you can check if you have removed the clog or not. A simple thing to increase the suction power and gripping power of the plunger is to line the rim of the plunger with petroleum jelly. However many people either forget to do or do not know that they can do it.

Vinegar and baking soda mixed in equal proportions, say about a cup each, and then with hot water poured down the sink and left over night does wonders for a clogged drain. The hot vinegar and baking soda mixture dissolves the grime and hair that usually gets stuck.

As a preventative measure, you may want to line your sinks with drain sieves. This almost always stops any clogging before it happens. Using a wire mesh for larger drains such as your main drain or tanks goes a long way in preventing clogs. If you think that the job may be too difficult you could also use the spring auger, also known as the plumbers’ snake, which from the name indicates that it is a snake like object. It can be pushed down the sink and used to dislodge the items causing the clogging. A handle at the top is turned to pull it up once the clogging item is located.

Using household items like baking soda, vinegar and table salt or rock salt is a very eco friendly way of dealing with drains. With the amount of chemicals being poured down the drains, (of course they are usually immediately effective) they sure will end up costing more in the long run as the insides of the pipes may tend to corrode.

If you have children around the house, chemicals may also cause irritation to them and perhaps even to you. Baking soda, salt and vinegar in most cases are safe to touch and inhale without lasting damage.

If you have gone through all these steps and still find that the clogs exist, this may mean that your main drain is clogged or you have a septic tank that may be clogged. If you cannot unclog that, the best thing may be to hire the plumber. He’s your best sink doctor!