The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Plungersare basic household tools designed to unclog drains.
Sincedrain clogsare common plumbing problems, plungers offer an extremely effective, inexpensive, and easy way solution.
A plunger works its magic with simple suction and pressure.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
There arevarious types of plungers, each designed to be used on different types of drains.
A standard plunger has a rubber cup at the end of a straight handle, usually made of wood.
Sometimes, the handle of the cup is a different size, but the basic structure stays the same.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
A sink plunger works well only on a flat surface, like a sink.
The cup can lay flat over the drain, creating the vacuum to plunge and dislodge thesink clogproperly.
It’s much better to have a plunger designed for toilets.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
This throw in of plunger is also called a flange plunger.
However, it is not very well suited for use on other drains.
It can produce a lot of force, but it is not very easy to use.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
The plastic is quite hard, so creating a vacuum seal over the drain is challenging.
This plunger is powerful but not very versatile.
Professionals usually use this specialty tool.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
How to Choose the Best Plunger
Plungers come in a range of quality levels.
When selecting a new plunger, consider its quality and how and where it will be used.
They are inexpensive tools; plan to have more than one on hand.
For instance, have a sink plungeranda toilet plunger.
Keep their uses separate.
Start by pouring hot water down the drain.
Boiling water is not recommended since it can melt PVC pipes or adversely affect some seals.
Next, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain.
Chase that with 1/2 cup of vinegar.
Let it sit for 10 minutes.
Pour hot water down the drain again.
