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Fame Shock News

how to clean a drain with baking soda and vinegar

Author

Sophia Vance

Updated on June 05, 2026

Baking soda is a base while vinegar is an acid, their chemical reaction produces water with a tiny amount of salt in it, not a fat destroying drain cleaner. Plus vinegar and baking soda are not surfactants, so they do not help water carry oil and grease away the same way that detergents can.

How long do you leave baking soda and vinegar in drain?

Sprinkle baking soda down the drain. Pour in the vinegar and let it fizz for five to 10 minutes. Pour in boiling water (careful — don’t burn yourself with the steam).

What is the best homemade drain cleaner?

Mix 1/2 cup table salt and 1/2 cup baking soda together, and pour down drain. Let sit for about 30 minutes (or overnight if it’s a tough clog), and follow with a pot of boiling water.

Does baking soda and vinegar dissolve hair?

Mix Vinegar With Baking Soda

Pour it down the drain to loosen the hair. Mix 1 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of baking soda. Whisk to dissolve the baking soda.

Does vinegar and baking soda damage PVC pipes?

Vinegar won’t hurt PVC pipes. Even though it’s acidic, it won’t generate heat inside the PVC, unlike certain chemical cleaners that potentially melt the pipes. The best way to use vinegar to unclog PVC pipes is to pour it on baking soda down the pipes.

Will vinegar hurt PVC pipes?

The answer is that vinegar will not harm your pipes if used in small doses as recommended in many of the recipes that you find online. No matter what your pipes are made of, pex, pvc, copper, etc. Vinegar will not harm your water pipes.

Can too much baking soda clog a drain?

Baking soda powder will turn into a cement like mass and completely clog everything it settles in.

What vinegar unclogs drains?

Pour a mixture of 1 cup vinegar (apple cider vinegar works best) and 1 cup boiling water down the drain. (Substitute lemon juice for vinegar for a great-smelling drain ? Plug the drain to keep the vinegar baking soda reaction below the drain surface.

What will dissolve hair in a drain?

Combining baking soda and vinegar is a natural way to dissolve hair clogs, without resorting to harsh chemicals. Pour a cup of baking soda down the clogged drain first, and then after a few minutes add a cup of vinegar.

How do you clear a slow drain?

Here’s how to unclog a slow-moving drain without calling a plumber:
Step 1: Boil a kettle of water. Step 2: Grab the baking soda. Step 3: Add 1 cup of vinegar to 1 cup of very hot water. Step 4: Cover the drain with a plug and let it sit for 10 minutes. Boil one more kettle of water.

How do you clean a slow drain?

Add 1 cup of white vinegar to 1 cup of hot water, and then pour this mixture over the drain, onto the baking soda. The reaction of the vinegar with baking soda will cause bubbling. This reaction will help loosen the sludge that has collected in the drain pipe. Cover the drain with a plug, or close the stopper.

What eats hair in a drain?

Products like Drano and Liquid Plumr are caustic and can slowly eat away at your plumbing pipes. Baking soda, on the other hand, has many benefits. Not only does it help dissolve the hair down your drain, but it also has disinfectant properties that can fight odor, bacteria, and fungi.

How do you get hair out of a drain without a snake?

Try Baking Soda & Vinegar

First, pour a cup of baking soda right into the drain. Wait a couple minutes, then pour a cup of vinegar down there. Let this mixture sit in the drain for a few hours as it works its magic. After a few hours, the mixture should dissolve the clogged hair.

Does Coca Cola clear clogged drains?

Coke. Coke is a lesser-known fix you can find in your refrigerator. Pour a 2-liter bottle of cola — Pepsi, Coke, or generic brand substitutes — down the clogged drain. Coke is actually quite caustic and effective at clearing away buildup in your drains, but it’s far milder than commercial drain cleaners.

How long can you leave vinegar in the drain?

This can help prevent clog-causing buildup on the interior surface of pipes. Or, pour one cup of vinegar down the drain and let it sit for 30 minutes. Rinse with two quarts of very hot water.