before i go dumping a bunch of random chemicals down the drain...

i wash my snakes hide and water bowl in our bathroom sink. i've recently noticed our sink has started to have the wonderful aroma of snake feces creeping out. lovely. :P i never wash turds down the sink so it must be from the residual slime. what works good for making your sink smell like roses?


(sorry if this is in the wrong section, i've been up since this morning cramming for a final and i'm long past delirious :rolleye2:)

I would get some drain cleaner, or run bleach through it and then lots of hot water.

Be careful with bleach though, its highly corrosive. Coming from experience.

Diluted bleach solution or a cleaning product like drain-o would probably do the trick

Get a foaming cleaner so it cleans the sides of the pipe.

It might be from debris hanging from the top of the drain catching fecal matter and keeping it.

I kept having trouble with clogs in our apartment's sink and maintenance was no help. I tried drain-o a few times but it didn't seem to work long, if at all. Eventually I bought a drain snake thing for $2. It's a long bendy plastic piece with little "arms" all up the sides to grab hair. I pulled up a kittens worth of hair and had no trouble after that.

Even if your sink is draining fine it's worth considering on top of drain cleaner... The product is $2 and reusable, much better than spending $40 on drain-o if the smell remains.

Clean out the trap in your sink. It is most likely filled with nasty crap and needs to be cleaned. Then use some kind of drain cleaner followed by a lot of hot water.

Have you tried a crapton of baking soda and vinegar? Usually gets rid of the smell (plus, who doesn't like to make a giant volcano in the sink?!)

Vinegar and baking soda does well for me I actually plug the drain so it foams in the pipes and out the over flow. Bleach will also work. NEVER NEVER use bleach and then try drain cleaner or vise versa with out running lots LOTS of water the two mixed will make chlorine gas !!! just because it is for household use doesn't mean it is safe and can be treated haphazardly.

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Originally Posted by schrammalot

Have you tried a crapton of baking soda and vinegar? Usually gets rid of the smell (plus, who doesn't like to make a giant volcano in the sink?!)

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I've done this in my kitchen sink. Have also used hydrogen peroxide (separately) and had success.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by schrammalot

Have you tried a crapton of baking soda and vinegar? Usually gets rid of the smell (plus, who doesn't like to make a giant volcano in the sink?!)

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I LOVE drain volcanoes. They're fun, work well, and are pet-safe. If you go with bleach you really never need more than a 1:10 bleach/water solution. But I'd totally vote for making a volcano :D

It may or may not be one of the reasons I use it so much.... :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Vinegar and baking soda does well for me I actually plug the drain so it foams in the pipes and out the over flow. Bleach will also work. NEVER NEVER use bleach and then try drain cleaner or vise versa with out running lots LOTS of water the two mixed will make chlorine gas !!! just because it is for household use doesn't mean it is safe and can be treated haphazardly.

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Bleach lets off chlorine gas on its own. When you use bleach you shouldnt really use it with really hot water bc that makes the chlorine dissipate faster and the chlorine is the primary cleaning agent. I think youre thinking of something like chloramine which is the vapor let off when you mix bleach and ammonia. Im not positive on that though.

http://chemistry.about.com/od/toxicc...nd-Ammonia.htm

Chlorine and ammonia is a no no :p

thanks for all the replies. i think i'm gonna go with the sink volcano. i'm now officially on winter break now and i need something to keep me entertained around the house. lol
i think i'll make sink volcanoes in every sink. :banana:

Sodium hypochlorite reacts gradually with metals such as zinc to produce the metal oxide or hydroxide: Not very good for you..
NaClO + Zn → ZnO + NaCl
It reacts with hydrochloric acid to release chlorine gas: -Chemical weapon WW1, destroys your lungs.
NaClO + 2 HCl → Cl2 + H2O + NaCl
It reacts with other acids, such as acetic acid, to release hypochlorous acid: -Mutagen
NaClO + CH3COOH → HClO + CH3COONa
It decomposes when heated to form sodium chlorate and sodium chloride:- Irritant, respiratory issues in large amounts
3 NaClO → NaClO3 + 2 NaCl
In reaction with hydrogen peroxide it gives off molecular oxygen:- :P
NaClO + H2O2 → H2O + NaCl + O2↑
When dissolved in water it will slowly decompose, releasing chlorine, oxygen and sodium and hydroxide ions. -Remains in liquid.
4 NaClO + 2 H2O → 4 Na+ + 4 OH- + 2 Cl2 + O2
Sodium hypochlorite reacts with most nitrogen compounds to form volatile chloramines, dichlormaines, and nitrogen trichloride: -Strong irritant!
NH3 + NaOCl → NH2Cl + NaOH
NH2Cl+ NaOCl → NHCl2 + NaOH
NHCl2 + NaOCl → NCl3 + NaOH
wikipedia

Most drain cleaners have either ammonia or acids in them acids and chlorine release typically chlorine gas but others can be released as well (phosphine, hypochlorous ect.) Chlorine cannot be mixed safely with any acid and few bases. It must not be mixed with ANY household chemicals the results can be very toxic and have caused serious injury in the past. Accidental mixing in drain traps included be very sure if you use any chemical that you throughly wash traces away before you add another chemical bluntly a moment of stupidity can hurt you very seriously and permanently as well as anyone in the vicinity.

Don't listen to everyone, they just don't want your sink to smell fantastic! The best possible sink-destinker you can make is one parts chlorine bleach to one parts pure ammonia. Works great! It also smells great too, you'll want to stand there and huff the vapors!

***** Totally joking, don't really do that.

I'd second the drain cleaner suggestion, Drain-O or Liquid Plumber and then after a lot of rinsing I'd possibly pour some lemon juice down there the freshen things up. Good luck de-stinking your sink.

Kite just took me back to my chem major days. D: