Clogged Drain? Skip the Fizz. Use This $3 Tool

The Friday after Thanksgiving I stood at my kitchen sink with gray water up to my wrists, and two rounds of baking soda and vinegar didn't drop it an inch. What finally opened that drain took ten minutes and cost nothing. Here is what the fizz really does, and what works instead. In this video: • What baking soda and vinegar really make, with the arithmetic: about one tablespoon reacts and the rest sits in the pipe • Why the fizz can't open a real grease clog or a hair clog • 3 things folks believe about drains, checked: the fizz, hot water with grease, and strong drain cleaner • 4 plain tools that do work: a weekly hot-water flush, a cup plunger, a $3 plastic hair strip, and cleaning the trap • What a plumber costs, and exactly when to stop and call one • The tin-can habit that keeps Thanksgiving grease out of your pipes Tonight's homework: set an empty can beside your stove. Then open the cupboard under your kitchen sink and find the trap. Just know where it is. What's the worst thing you ever pulled out of a drain? And where do you live? Tell me in the comments. I read them. CHAPTERS 0:00 Gray water the morning after Thanksgiving 1:07 What we'll cover 1:56 What the fizz really is 2:20 The arithmetic: one tablespoon works 2:57 Where the gas goes 3:31 The one-minute plate test 3:54 Four questions before you pick a tool 4:59 Myth 1: The fizz blasts the clog loose 5:54 Myth 2: Hot water washes grease through 6:42 Myth 3: The strong stuff is the sure fix 7:46 Tool 1: Hot water and a 1913 recipe 9:27 Tool 2: The plunger 10:01 Tool 3: The $3 hair strip 10:32 Tool 4: Cleaning the trap 11:26 What I pulled out of my pipe 12:12 Brown Friday and the grease can 13:22 Safety: never mix cleaners 14:35 What this won't fix 15:00 When to call a plumber 15:25 What it costs 16:05 What I do now, and your homework 17:02 One more time