Cleaning expert Nancy Birtwhistle has highlighted and environmentally-friendly way of unblocking clogged sinks. She explains her eco way of unblocking sinks online
Kitchen drains are often left clogged with waste which can be headache to solve without using harsh chemicals to clear sinks.
But cleaning expert Nancy Birtwhistle, who is also known for her baking skills on the Great British Bake Off, has highlighted and environmentally-friendly way of unblocking clogged sinks. She advises using eco-alternative materials rather than going down the chemical route. Her comments were highlighted by the Daily Express and her tips show old-fashioned cleaning methods are often the best and better for the environment.
In her tips, which were published online, Nancy said: “Now before you go out and buy sink unblockers, with many of them being so toxic to the environment, try this!” Not using chemicals in her method, she divulged her go-to trick: “All I used was 200g of washing soda and dissolved it in 200ml of boiling water from the kettle” The soda is also known as soda crystals and is a natural mineral salt which can tackle grease and other items which can clog up pipes.
Many home remedies use vinegar and baking soda for their blockages, but they don’t pack the punch needed against stubborn grease and fats. this excludes alkaline soda crystal, which has detergent-like power to bust through the grime. The method uses boiled water to clear any water around the plug, before soda crystals are added and more boiled water is used to chase any gunk down the plughole.
Nancy wrote: “Pour [boiling water] down the plug-hole sink and then sprinkle over another couple of tablespoons of washing soda, put the plug and leave it for several hours, even better overnight. Then the next day, remove the plug and pour down a kettle of boiling water, and the sink will be free-flowing nice and fast again.”
After showing the effectiveness of the soda crystal solution on her own sink, Nancy showed how the water drained away incredibly quickly. She added: “Rather than reaching for the toxic, chemical-heavy and often expensive sink blockers, try this cheaper, eco-friendly and natural alternative.” In the comments section of her post, several followers were astonished at the simplicity and effectiveness of the cleaning hack. One follower remarked: “I did this yesterday, works a treat.” Another shared: “I do this to my daughter’s sink once a week!” And a third user said: “This is brilliant, worked well and stopped the drain from smelling.”