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HELP! How can I get this mussel out?

236 replies

JDM625 · 08/06/2025 12:34

Ok, this is the most ridiculous thing! I was scrubbing mussels for dinner lastnight, and one slippery fsucker flew out of my hand and went down the overflow pipe!

I've tried chopsticks, tongs, a knife, bottle brush but due to the angle, nothing is working. I can unscrew the S bend/trap underneath, but the hole within the overflow isn't wide enough to push the mussel through. Maybe I could push it up though?

Any other ideas to get it out before it stinks?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
36
similarminimer · 09/06/2025 17:10

Vinvertebrate · 09/06/2025 15:20

Icy water might make the shell retract so you can hoik it out easier?

Any DC with small and freakishly long enough fingers? A well-trained cat?

Oh I love the sciencey-ness of this. But do we really think Russel is still alive? Or does ice work on mussel-muscle post-mortem?

similarminimer · 09/06/2025 17:13

Chat gpt:
Most of them sound pants - other than the flexible grabber tool which sounds like a hallucination

Safety first!

To remove a mussel shell stuck in the overflow of a Belfast sink, try the following steps, starting with the least invasive:
⚠️ Safety First:
• Wear rubber gloves (shells can be sharp).
• Be careful not to chip the ceramic sink or damage the overflow fitting.
🔧 Step-by-Step

  1. Use Long Tweezers or Pliers
• Try long-nose pliers, tweezers, or hemostats. • Shine a torch into the overflow and gently extract the shell. • Wiggle carefully to avoid pushing it further in.
  1. Use a Flexible Grabber Tool
• A four-prong flexible grabber or claw pickup tool (available in hardware stores) can reach around bends. • Insert it carefully and retrieve the shell.
  1. Flush with Water and Vinegar (if not tightly wedged)
• Plug the sink. • Pour warm water mixed with vinegar into the overflow. • This can help dislodge debris or loosen the shell slightly.

Don’t do this if you think the shell is completely blocking the overflow — it could flood.

  1. Use a Cable or Pipe Cleaner
• Use a pipe-cleaning brush or flexible plastic drain snake. • Gently push or pull to hook or maneuver the shell out.
  1. Use a Wet/Dry Vacuum
• If you have access to a wet/dry vac, try sucking the shell out via the overflow hole. • Wrap a towel or rubber around the nozzle to create a seal over the hole.
  1. Remove the Overflow Cover

If nothing else works:
• Unscrew or pry off the overflow plate/cover (if accessible).
• This may expose the pipe and allow you better access.

Note: Some Belfast sinks have moulded overflows (not accessible), in which case you may need to push

DrDameKatyDeniseInExile · 09/06/2025 17:26

Get on your local Facebook and ask if anyone has a small Octopus you could borrow. Once he, let’s call him Oswald, has squeezed his way in to the overflow the heroic cephalopod will make short work of the mussel, before emerging to a round of applause and a smiley face picture for your local paper. Job done.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

MrsMoastyToasty · 09/06/2025 17:27

Don't do what someone upthread suggested and pour oil (or any fats for that matter) down the sink unless you want blocked drains into the bargain and some explaining to do with the sewerage company.

Have you got something like a bit of those wires used to hang net curtains up that you can use to negotiate the bend? Or a knitting needle?

Yogic · 09/06/2025 17:34

Try a kitchen roll tube over the hoover nozzle - you can bend it into shape

Whataretalkingabout · 09/06/2025 17:38

MsTamborineMan · 08/06/2025 14:16

Mussels have no central nervous system. I wouldn't worry. They feel no more pain than a plant. Better than rotting to death in a sink overflow

"They feel no more pain than a plant"! You have obviously never heard ( or read) about Raoul Dahl's roses and lawn. The suffering they endured during pruning and mowing !

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 09/06/2025 17:40

Power washer? 😂

Redheadedstepchild · 09/06/2025 17:44

My vigil is the very least I can do. I thought perhaps others would join me in thoughts and prayers for Maurice and light candles of their own but sadly, all subsequent posts have been along the lines of drown it, smash it, playdoh it.

It's obviously not enough to stir this jaded society. I've decided that we need a campaign song but I've drawn a blank.

Down In A Hole by Alice In Chains. Too nihilistic.

The best I've come up with so far is, "The Tide Is High" by Blondie but that's far from ideal.

HiddenInCubeOfCheese · 09/06/2025 17:48

@Redheadedstepchild - if you’re familiar with The Simpsons, how about Sting’s “We’re Sending Our Love Down The Well”?

Boiledbeetle · 09/06/2025 17:53

Redheadedstepchild · 09/06/2025 17:44

My vigil is the very least I can do. I thought perhaps others would join me in thoughts and prayers for Maurice and light candles of their own but sadly, all subsequent posts have been along the lines of drown it, smash it, playdoh it.

It's obviously not enough to stir this jaded society. I've decided that we need a campaign song but I've drawn a blank.

Down In A Hole by Alice In Chains. Too nihilistic.

The best I've come up with so far is, "The Tide Is High" by Blondie but that's far from ideal.

Sorry! Was doing my vigil at the back of the house as it was nearer the sink.

HELP! How can I get this mussel out?
Redheadedstepchild · 09/06/2025 17:56

Boiledbeetle · 09/06/2025 17:53

Sorry! Was doing my vigil at the back of the house as it was nearer the sink.

That's so beautiful. Good people still exist.

Viviennemary · 09/06/2025 17:57

Ilovelowry · 08/06/2025 13:41

My favourite post ever.

DH suggests smashing it with a screwdriver then rinsing the parts down.

The MN police will have you reported for animal cruelty.

Ilovelowry · 09/06/2025 17:58

Viviennemary · 09/06/2025 17:57

The MN police will have you reported for animal cruelty.

🙏🏻 Repenting my crime.

I do love mussels. Especially with frites and a large glass of Rose.

OldWave · 09/06/2025 18:06

I'm thinking you could let a seagull in.

Staysexyanddontgetmurdered · 09/06/2025 18:06

My son dropped our TV remote down the back of a radiator once. I got it out by using the handle of a wooden spoon with some really sticky sticky tape on the end. Could that work? Maybe not a wooden spoon but something thinner?

GetOffTheCounter · 09/06/2025 18:09

I will wait until the natural finish of this thread before telling my story about how I once slipped and shoved the oyster shucker through my hand and had it come out the other side while DH went white and faint and vomity and I laughed because the blade went through my skin like butter.

(I lost most of the sensation in my hand and fingers but it isn't my writing hand so not too bothered tbh)

Redheadedstepchild · 09/06/2025 18:22

HiddenInCubeOfCheese · 09/06/2025 17:48

@Redheadedstepchild - if you’re familiar with The Simpsons, how about Sting’s “We’re Sending Our Love Down The Well”?

That's an absolute genius suggestion. A slight tweak to the lyrics, "We're sending our love down the sink."
It needs speeding up a bit but otherwise. It's Summer 2025 for me.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/3R6IO5lx_Z0?si=tNJzxy0gqbuuqAfp

Redheadedstepchild · 09/06/2025 18:31

Redheadedstepchild · 09/06/2025 18:22

That's an absolute genius suggestion. A slight tweak to the lyrics, "We're sending our love down the sink."
It needs speeding up a bit but otherwise. It's Summer 2025 for me.

Oh sorry! I'm so over emotional about Maurice that I sent the wrong clip. This is taking a toll on me but I'm carrying on regardless. I've had nothing but black coffee and Marlboros for 48 hours now!

This is our campaign song! (Original version. Needs remastering)

Boiledbeetle · 09/06/2025 18:41

Redheadedstepchild · 09/06/2025 18:31

Oh sorry! I'm so over emotional about Maurice that I sent the wrong clip. This is taking a toll on me but I'm carrying on regardless. I've had nothing but black coffee and Marlboros for 48 hours now!

This is our campaign song! (Original version. Needs remastering)

It's OK they'll get him out I'm sure. Now I must go do a bit to camera now the gospel choir has arrived, it should hit the 9 o'clock news.

HELP! How can I get this mussel out?
RustyBear · 09/06/2025 18:43

This is so reminiscent of the bobble plate saga, that I feel moved to repost the poem I wrote to commemorate that epic

The Saga of the Lost Bobble Plate

A fact that ev’ry mum should know
Is what to do when – what a blow!
You drop behind your boxed-in loo
A plate that’s very dear to you.
You must, of course, your laptop get,
And log on to the great Mumsnet.
Where you will find a goodly host,
Of eager mums, all keen to post,
To help you in your time of need.
No gallant knight on milk-white steed,
Could beat these ladies with their mice,
Who rush to share their good advice.
And so ahundredtimes did go,
To tell us all her tale of woe,
‘What can I do?’ she sadly cried,
Suggestions came from far and wide,
Of things that stick and things that suck,
She tried them all but had no luck,
The plate remained behind the loo,
What was a Mumsnetter to do?
Meanwhile, in homes across the land,
The mothers left their housework and,
Their poor neglected children roamed,
Their teeth unbrushed, their hair uncombed,
And husbands came from day-long toil,
To find no soup upon the boil.
Then, searching for their errant spouse,
They hear the ever-clicking mouse,
They watch their loved one, tense and pale,
Refresh the page to no avail.
“I’m sorry, love, I’m on a vigil,
What you can gather from the fridge’ll,
Have to be your supper, mate,
I’m here until they save the plate”.
But back now to our stricken mum,
Who’s keen to prove she’s not so dumb,
So many things she’s tried and tested,
But now a bag has been suggested.
Her husband (who is on the phone)
Implores her not to try alone,
But no, she’s too keyed-up to wait,
She shoves it down beside the plate.
But there it sticks, she gives a yelp,
Her hubby says “That didn’t help,
Now you can leave it all to me
Just go and get a cup of tea!”
Some tricky work with seaside spade,
With which the children once had played,
And on the bag now rests the platter,
But will this really save the latter?
There seems no way to raise it up
Without a slip ‘twixt lip and cup…
As mumsnetters with bated breath,
Wait there for news of life or death,
They light a candle for the plate,
And all prepare to mourn its fate,
But grappling with the wooden spade,
Our hero comes to hundred’s aid,
Inch by inch, the platter comes,
As breathless wait the watching mums,
The groping fingers touch the rim
He teeters on the cistern’s brim…
A cry of triumph rends the air!
Success will come to those who dare!
Tired, but happy, there he stands,
The plate clutched safely in his hands,
He sees his ever-loyal mate
Rush lovingly to hug…

…the plate.

This thread should join the bobble plate in Classics
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/636548-A-plate-has-fallen-down-the-back-of-the-loo?reply=12959469

Boiledbeetle · 09/06/2025 18:54

<Dabs tears from eyes>

Beautiful @RustyBear

Just beautiful ❤

imnotrobert · 09/06/2025 19:03

Could you block the drain with something, fill the overflow with water and hope it floats up?

Kangarude · 09/06/2025 19:09

Sorry that I don’t have anything useful to suggest OP, but @Boiledbeetle I love your posts. Thank you 😂

NeverDropYourMooncup · 09/06/2025 19:26

Pickled onion grabber.

Take a set of cooking chopsticks and get beneath the shell to lift it up.

Metal coat hanger, bent into two, last inch and a half bent some more, cut ends taped together and use the bend as a shovel to lift it up.

DO NOT use a vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaners and water do not play nicely together.

soupyspoon · 09/06/2025 19:28

JDM625 · 08/06/2025 13:19

To clarify, the pic above with the mussel is NOT the mussel in question, just an example of the size.

Stunt mussel?

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