How To Clean Stinky Drains

Stinky kitchen drain? Bathroom drain that smells like a sewer? Find out the cause and how to get rid of the odor with DIY nontoxic methods.

The odor of a smelly drain can spread throughout your home. Sometimes, it’s a kitchen drain that makes your home smell like rotting food, and it gets worse when the dishwasher’s running. You may also notice your bathroom sink or shower drains smell like a sewer. That smell can come from your washing machine’s drain, too.

What Causes Smelly Drains?

Kitchen drains often stink due to a buildup of grease that traps food residue, producing bacteria and attracting pests like fruit flies. A similar buildup can occur in the bathroom due to soap, toothpaste, and body oils collecting hair and dead skin cells. So, if you’ve started noticing a drain beginning to stink, it usually means a clog is starting to develop in your plumbing. Remove the gunk quickly using one of these methods, and you’ll get rid of the smell while avoiding a costly plumber’s bill.

Ways to Clean Sink and Shower Drains

The good news is that you usually don’t need a plumber to get rid of the smell coming from your drain. Most of the time, you don’t even need special equipment. These methods rely on nontoxic household ingredients you probably already have on hand. Many people find that a combination of methods works best. So, start with the most convenient one for you, then try another approach if your drain continues to stink.

The Hot Water Method

Just as hot water and dish soap get greasy dishes clean, they can clean your smelly drain, too. For this method, bring a pot of water to a boil, and turn off the heat. Stir in a few squirts of liquid dish detergent. First, carefully pour half of the boiling water mixture down your drain and wait five minutes for it to dissolve the oily buildup. Next, turn your cold water tap on full blast and let it run for a full minute to solidify any remaining grease. Finally, pour the remaining hot water down the drain to remove the congealed residue.

Vinegar Cleans Stinky Drains

Vinegar is a fantastic deodorizer, and it also cuts through grease to help clean smelly drains by dissolving biofilm and other material. Using hot vinegar can also power through small clogs, which are often the source of the drain’s smell. To clean your smelly drain with vinegar, bring four cups of it to a boil, then pour half down the drain. Run cold water for a minute and pour the rest of the hot vinegar down the drain to rinse.

Scour the Drain with Baking Soda

Remember the baking soda and vinegar “volcano” you made in grade school? That same foaming action is great at cleaning drains and eliminating the rotten eggs smell. For this method, you need to run hot water down the drain for a minute to help soften any buildup in the drainpipe. Then, dump 1 cup of baking soda (bicarbonate) down the drain and chase it with 2 cups of vinegar. Wait for the fizzing to stop, and rinse the drain first with hot then cold water for one minute each.

Try a Plastic Drain Snake

This method takes a little preparation since you probably don’t have a plastic drain snake sitting around. But if stinky drains are a common problem, you might want to change that because these things work. (I order this multipack of them to use on my drains every few months. Below, you can see why.)

You just remove the drain plug and slowly feed the snake down the drain. Then, holding it by the plastic handle, turn it slowly. The snake is covered in short, tough bristles that collect hair and other debris coating the inside of your drain. And let me warn you now, the results can be disgusting — but effective. See?

Ways to Clean Garbage Disposal Drains

Sometimes, buildup in your garbage disposal can make your kitchen sink’s drain smell. That stink may get worse when your dishwasher runs because it feeds into the same drain. To get rid of the odor, try one of these methods.

Run Ice Cubes Through It

Ice cubes are a great way to scour your disposal and get rid of grimy buildup. For best results, follow the hot water method to clean your smelly drain first, and then push two cups of ice cubes past the rubber flange into your disposer. With the cold water tap going full blast, turn on your disposal and let it run for two minutes while your disposer’s blades break up the ice. Once time’s up, run hot water for a minute and turn off the disposal.

Grind Citrus Peels

Running slices of lemons or oranges in your disposer can deodorize and clean the drain, and the fruit’s acidic juice does a great job removing grease. Start by running hot water to loosen the oil in your drain. Next, turn off the tap and push some thinly sliced citrus wedges past the rubber flanges into your disposal. Finally, run the tap full blast with cold water and start your garbage disposal. Let it whir for a couple of minutes, switch the tap to hot water, and turn off the disposal then the water after another minute.

Cleaning Washing Machine Drains

If you notice a sewer odor coming from your laundry room, the cause is often greasy buildup in the drain line. You’ll find the line behind your washer where it’s inserted into the drain box.

1. Mark the point where the line disappears into the box to know how far it was inserted. Carefully remove it and put a funnel into the drain box opening where the line was.

2. Bring 1 gallon of water and 1 quart of distilled white vinegar to a rapid simmer. Carefully pour half of the mixture down the funnel, followed by 1 gallon of cold water and the rest of the hot mixture.

3. Put the line back into the drain box, stopping when you reach the mark you made.

4. Finish by deep cleaning your washing machine to eliminate any residue that’s backed up into it and contributed to the odor.

Tips to Keep Drains from Stinking

Routine attention can keep your drains from developing odor-causing buildup.

• Don’t pour grease down your drain.

• Flush your kitchen drains with hot water after doing the dishes.

• Sprinkle baking soda down your drains weekly to control odors.

• To keep bathtub and shower drains from smelling, pour hot vinegar down them weekly to eliminate soap scum and body oil.

• Use a plastic drain snake every 2-3 months. You might also want to install a hair-catching drain cover in the shower or bathtub.

• Keep your P-traps from drying out. The P-trap is the curvy pipe under your sink. Your shower and tub have them, too, though they’re hidden. P-traps are designed to hold a little water at all times to act as a barrier to sewer gasses. When the P-trap goes dry, those sewer gases enter your home. To avoid empty p-traps, make a point to run the water for a few minutes each week in seldom-used sinks, tubs, and showers to flush and refill the P-trap.

When to Call the Professionals

If home remedies don’t get rid of the odor, you may need to contact a plumber. Most offer drain cleaning services and can also auger your home’s main drain line, which can get clogged by tree roots and organic material. If you have plumbing vents on your roof, they can inspect the vent stack, too. It is imperative that you tell the plumber about any chemical drain cleaners and nontoxic household ingredients you’ve used to clean your drain since some combinations can be dangerous.