What will get rid of the pong coming from my kitchen sink plughole?

[PinkPussyCat]

I have no idea why it has suddenly started to smell, I'm really careful about what goes down the sink, emptying mop buckets etc into the drain out the back. So far I have used Mr Muscle sink & plughloe unblocker, and bleach. Have also tried lots of boiling water... Does anyone have any other tips?

TIA

Bleach sorts mine-but I have to put some down the little overflow thing at the side of the sink as well. Does your sink have one of those?

Yes it does have one of those, Tiggiwinkle but have been putting bleach down it to no avail...

Its fine until I run the hot water eg for handwashing, then its as if the heat re-activates the stink I've got some soda crystals, wonder if they'd do the trick?

Hmmm-worth a try I suppose. I wonder why the bleach is not working? I sometimes have to do mine several days in a row before it goes by the way.

I don't know why mine does it either, because I use it all the time, loads of hot water etc going down it. But every so often the smell comes back!

Soda crystals are good, but if you've recently put bleach down then don't use them. Make sure you have run a lot of water down the drain to wash away the bleach, otherwise the bleach and the soda will react and you will have clouds of chlorine gas gushing up out of your drain. That will certainly kill off anything living in the drain, but will unfortunately probably also burn your eyes and lungs. Not a good idea.

Forgot to say that the stink is probably caused by solidified rancid fat, reactivated when it is warmed by hot water. Bleach doesn't do much to fat, but soda crystals break it down.

Do you pour cooking fats down the drain? Try to pour them into a jar, or a piece of kichen roll, wrap in newspaper and bin instead.

Yikes - thanks PC - will wait to use soda crystals then! Don't want any strange chemical reactions going on....

As I said, I can't understand it as I am very good about not rinsing any old gubbins down the sink, and certainly wouldn't pour fat down. And I'm always flushing it through with loads of clean water. Unless dh has been 'cleaning'

squeeze a lemon down there? used to work with a stinky waste disposal unit at work...

Might be the drain outside the kitchen window where your sink outlet comes out.

Stuff stuck down there like coffee grounds and solidified fat cause ours to stink. I have to go out and pour several buckets of water down and give a good stir with a stick to get all the bits to wash away.

Caustic soda.

lots of bicarbonate of soda and vinegar

ABetaDad you might be on to something there. Think that's a job for dh though

Thanks for all suggestions

Oh yes we had ABetaDad's drain problem once - affected whole row of houses. Was a job for DynoRod Man ...

I seem to have developed a strange ability to solve drainage problems over the internet since joining MN.

I can actualy do diving (finding drains, wells, undergroudn water). Maybe I can do that through the medium of the internet as well.

OMG maybe I am a sort of drain psychic !

ABetaDad, prove your drain psychic credentials, and have a look at my thread here please. I'd be very grateful.

Thats 'divining' by the way.

put milton down there. leave for a while. then hot water.

I ma not sure if you have fixed the problem. However it may not acutally be the sink hole. When we moved to our property the washing machinehad no U bend, which ment that stale water was kept in the pipes. There fore when you turned ont eh water the old water would rush through, making it skink like a sewer for about 10 mins. Have you had a look under your sink and behind your white goods to check that they have a U pipe.

Just a sugeestion.