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On an RV kitchen sink drain you cannot use Draino per previous owner, I was looking for a hack to clean the drain or an alternative to Draino. Thank you.

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    The solution would depend on whether or not you have a grey water tank. A small campervan discharges straight onto the ground, so needs different cleaning tricks.
    – Chenmunka
    Commented Oct 27, 2022 at 15:10

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If you can’t use chemicals, go for a mechanical solution. The tool of choice will depend on the kind of problem or maintenance you are planning to do:

  • A plunger, especially if the drain is fully clogged.
  • A drain snake / spiral to loosen debris stuck in the drain.
  • A roughed-up chopstick or similar is especially effective for grabbing hair in the drain (there are also plastic versions with a kind of barbs sold for that).
  • A bottle brush for cleaning up algae and other kinds of biofilm (keep one reserved for that use, don’t use the one for your dishes, after the first time you will see why).
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Boiling hot water and liquid soap down the drain. The soap serves to lower the surface tension which lifts off the nasty stuff as well as lubricating the pipe as well to facilitate the nasties to slide down the pipe. The heat of the water softens up the nasties. Fill your sink about half full and let time and atmospheric pressure assist you.

For example if your sink is 12 in by 12 in or 144 sq in. Atmospheric pressure is 14.7 lbs per sq in = 2116.8 lbs of pressure. One helluva sink plunger I say.

This also works on clogged toilets.

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