Every household has an issue with this from time to time, some more than others.  Stuff of various origin gets stuck in the drain line and stays there.  Initially, you don’t know it, but after more stuff gets stuck, there’s a back up.  Even a complete clog.  What a nightmare this is.  For us, our bathroom sink pair have been a recurring problem, and it seemed that the only solution was using caustic chemicals.  Not the most savory course of action for the environmentally conscious.  Even the chemicals don’t always work.  The good folks at TerraCycle, who we have featured for their organic fertilizer products, have come up with a microbe based treatment that is environmentally friendly, and appears to work well.  Our sinks were showing telltale signs of back up, and after one treatment, those signs were gone.  Simply called “Drain”, you can find it at Home Depot, where you kind find all the TerraCycle products.  If you have purchased TerraCycle fertilizers, you know they aren’t cheap.  ”Drain”, on the other hand, is only $5, much less than the other drain opening products.  Mind you, “Drain” is not designed to clear a completely occluded drain line.  It works well on an obstruction, if you treat daily for 5 days, and then monthly thereafter. Each treatment is only 8 ounces, not a half or whole bottle.  Thanks again, TerraCycle! 

UPDATE:  After using Drain for a number of months, we have to emphasize that it will not, as we said, open a clogged drain.  In fact, it doesn’t work all that well on a really slow drain.  It works best if you use it religiously every month per the directions.

And, I guess Home Depot thought it was pretty good stuff, so they doubled the price!  It’s $10 now, was $5 when we first purchased it.  Still seems worth it though.

Filed under: products on May 25th, 2008