How To Clean A Smelly Drain

A smelly drain can release an odor throughout the entire house. Kitchen drains can start to release odors like rotting food, or your bathroom sink and shower might start to smell like a sewer. Kitchen drains often accumulate grease and trapped food from dirty dishes, which can attract pesky fruit flies and produce bacteria. Bathroom sink and shower drains accumulate toothpaste, soap, hair, and body oils which eventually creates a clog that starts to stink.

Before you call in a plumber for professional help, there are some very simple things that you can do to clean a smelly drain yourself.

Use a Plastic Drain Snake

The plastic drain snake is a handy tool and does a great job of grabbing gunked-up hair and soap scum out of a drain. They are easy to use; you just remove your tub stopper or drain cover and then insert the snake into the drain while turning slowly so the tough little bristles can grab any hair and debris. You might want to be wearing plastic gloves for this and have a little trashcan nearby to quickly drop the disgusting, smelly mess. If you don’t have any plastic drain stakes, you should get some; they are inexpensive, and having a multipack on hand is always a great idea.

Use Hot Water and Dish Soap

There is a reason why hot water combined with dish soap cleans grease off of dirty dishes, this works on a stinky drain too. It has to be hot, boiling water for this to work so bring a pot of water to a boil, turn off the heat, and add a small amount of liquid dish soap. Slowly pour half of the boiling water and dish soap down your drain and let it work for at least five minutes to dissolve any greasy buildup.

After five minutes, turn on the cold water on high for at least one minute, and it will solidify the greasy residue. Then pour the rest of the hot water into the drain to flush it all out. This easy method with hot water can oftentimes solve your smelly drain problem but be sure to snake it first and remove any hair and debris that you can.

How To Keep Your Drain From Stinking

You can help to prevent your drain from developing odor-causing clogs by following some simple routine maintenance. For kitchen drains, do not pour grease down the drain and always flush with hot water after washing dishes. To help prevent stinky bathtub drain odor, use a plastic drain snake every 2 to 3 months and make sure you have a proper bathtub drain cover. If you need to snake the overflow tube, having a simple overflow plate like the Watco Innovator® Bathtub Overflow Plate Kit gives a beautiful look to your tub with an overflow plate that is easy to remove for maintenance. 

FixMyDrain.com offers the most innovative bathtub stopper replacement on the market from Watco, a name recognized for high-quality bathtub repair and replacement parts. The SimpliQuick® Tub Fix helps to prevent hair from entering the drain with a mesh grid drain cover and easy-to-use push-pull stopper. Practice routine maintenance to keep your drain from smelling and install the SimpliQuick® Tub Fix for a beautiful and functional drain cover.