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Cleaning the "holes" in the BA sink drainpipe

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Posted by colorcrazy (My Page) on
Sun, Dec 16, 12 at 13:31

I have tried several things, but nothing works, so I am hoping that some of you have ideas. In our bathroom sink drainpipe, about an inch below the opening, there are holes. Apparently there is a space in there for whatever reason. The problem is that mine is full of black gunk, and I can't get it out. I have tried a small bottle brush and a pipe cleaner, but didn't have much luck. The bottle brush got a little bit out.

Any success stories? Thanks!

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RE: Cleaning the "holes" in the BA sink drainpipe

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Have you tried using the homemade drain cleaner solution of baking soda, hot water and vinegar?

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RE: Cleaning the "holes" in the BA sink drainpipe

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Dump half a box of baking soda in the drain, then pour in a quart bottle of any kind of vinegar (I like clear). It will fizzle a lot, when it settles run lots and lots of hot water.I got this tip from my plumber. He said doing this once a week will maintain your sink. I do it probably once in 2 months.

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RE: Cleaning the "holes" in the BA sink drainpipe

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Thanks, that works for the main pipe/drain, but this is around the sides. Will have to find a way to get the baking powder and vinegar in there, I guess.

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RE: Cleaning the "holes" in the BA sink drainpipe

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Inquire at a good hardware store where there are helpful clerks. Ask for a small circular bronze or brass tube brush. You might find what you need in the sporting good section as a gun cleaning brush.

Here is a link that might be useful: Long Brass Tube Brush

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RE: Cleaning the "holes" in the BA sink drainpipe

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I think you are describing the four outlets into the basin drainpipe from the sink's overflow system.
These drain holes tend to catch debris and sometimes build up slime mold over time.
Cleaning them is a three step process.

First, you try to determine if you have enough flow by filling the sink and allowing the overflow outlet to cope with your normal tap settings. If OK then drain sink:
The next step involves plugging the sink drain and the small overflow drains with something like a pill bottle wrapped in a plastic shopping bag to stop all draining. Then fill up the overflow system with a sanitizing bleach solution and leave for 10 minutes or so. You might want to have some water in the basin to avoid bleach staining from any spillage.
Then pull the pill bottle and let everything drain.
If any loose clumps show up just pick away at them gradually over time with a small screwdriver.
Don't get aggressive with anything that might be a sealant.
Soap scum and slime mold are greasy and other stuff tends to resemble wet cardboard so doing it every week or two for a few months plus sending hot water down the over flow from a full basin should take care of the problem.

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