Gross! Clogged Washing Machine Sink - what to do?

[arivecchi]

We just moved into a new house and of course, a few days in, the sink that the washing machine drains into is clogged. I have never dealt with this before! What do I do? I certainly do not want to put my arm in dirty freezing water to figure out what the problem is. DH is the least handy person I know.

Any tips?

Thanks, Clueless

[Swimfreak78]

Two options

1) have you tried a plunger? Might force whatever is in there to move so the sink will drain

2) have you considered taking apart the trap part of the sink underneath? We had this problem and when I pulled off the plastic trap part on the bottom I found it full of well -- hair and junk. After that the sink drained like a charm.

Other thought - you could bail the cold water out of the sink and dispose of it so you can better figure out the problem.

Good luck!

[gordo]

This started happening to me since we moved - somehow lint from the washer is draining into the sink. I basically needed to stick my hand in the dirty freezing water and pull the lint out from the drain and then it worked again. Unfortunately it happens every couple of weeks :(

Hope your move went well and you are enjoying the new house!!!

[NancyJ_redo]

Two options

1) have you tried a plunger? Might force whatever is in there to move so the sink will drain

2) have you considered taking apart the trap part of the sink underneath? We had this problem and when I pulled off the plastic trap part on the bottom I found it full of well -- hair and junk. After that the sink drained like a charm.

Other thought - you could bail the cold water out of the sink and dispose of it so you can better figure out the problem.

Good luck!

I had the same two recommendations. Two additional notes - to effectively plunge, make sure the plunger part is fully submerged in water (I.e. add water to the sink if necessary). The suction power that results from the plunging is greater that way.

And regarding the trap under the sink, it's called a p-trap and is the u-shaped pipe. It's very easy to remove with a big wrench, just make sure you have a bucket underneath it to catch any residual water that will drain from the sink when you remove it. That p-trap gets very gunked up if not cleaned every so often.

[kwc]

We had this issue in our last house where the tubing/ hose from the ancient washer just dumped into the adjacent garage sink.

Plunger works very well.... we kept one just to use for the laundry room! I did do the boiling water/ vinegar thing to try to clear the drain a few times as well afterwards.

And later, I kept an old nylon/ pantyhose tied over the end of the outlet tubing to catch all the lint and changed it when it looked like it was getting clogged up.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We had to have a plumber snake the master drain when that happened here. They found wads of those "flushable" toilet wipes filling the pipe. We don't use them anymore!!

[niccig]

You can try a wire coat hanger, untwisted it so you have a hook at one end and try to fish out the blockage. You might be able to get enough out, so it will drain. If that does not work, try to take apart the trap at the u bend as other suggested.

You may need to call a plumber to snake it if you can not get it free.

I like the panty hose idea to keep it from clogging in future.

My parents have similar set up with drain into sink. Never ever soak anything in the sink. Use a bucket for soaking and do not keep it in the sink. Trust me on this. You will forget the sink is being used, then the washing machine will drain into the sink and water will flood your laundry space. Total PITA

[connor_mommy]

My washing machine drains into the sink also. I purchased something similar to those plastic net like bags that some fruits come in and attached it with a rubberband to the end of the pipe to trap some of the lint before it goes into the drain. (I don't know if you can picture it.) I tried putting a little strainer type thing that goes of the drain. I think the metal was too clost together and it trapped so much lint that water didn't drain though fast enough and I ended with a small flood.

[Fairy]

Oof. Well, the first thing I'd do is call the landlord and ask what their process is for these things.

Assuming you're on your own, time top plunge. Go buy a new plunger, don't use the one you've only used in the toilet. If that doesn't work, then it's time to undo the u-pipe, and I'm not that girl. But if I were forced, I would.

How'd it go?

[arivecchi]

Thanks for all the tips! This will be on DH's list today. Hope he enjoys his project. :D