5 Best Drain Snakes for Clogged Sinks, Showers, and Toilets – BobVila.com

Potato peels down the kitchen sink. Loose hair swirling through the tub drain. The little plastic soldier your toddler gave a bath in the toilet. Clogs happen. When water isnt draining as quickly as it shouldor, worse, isnt draining at allyour first move could be a call to a plumber. But if youd prefer to save money, time, and aggravation, reach for a drain snake.

Also called a plumbing snake or drain auger, this handy tool is simply a long, thick, flexible wire that snakes into drains and pipes to chew through clogs quickly and efficiently. But these blockage busters come in different types and sizes, depending on the recommended use. To help you choose and use the right drain snake, whether for a stopped-up toilet or a slow-moving sink, weve got the 411 on what to look forand rounded up the five best drain snakes recommended by plumbers and homeowners alike for effectiveness and ease of use.

Drain snakes come in a few standard lengths and thicknesses. For the average homeowner who needs to unclog a sink, tub, or shower, a 25-foot cable between and 5/16 of an inch thick is sufficient to tackle common household issues. If you live in a multi-story home with bathrooms upstairs, look for a snake with a 50-foot cable capable of reaching clogs in longer pipes.

For a more serious clog in your homes main water pipes, blockages further down the kitchen sink drain than your typical food clog, or problems with washing machine drainage, a tougher drain snake designed to handle larger pipes with bigger clogs is called for. Sometimes called medium drain machines, these powerful tools typically have a thicker cableoften inch in diameterand extend up to 75 feet to reach down deep into plumbing lines.

There are two basic types of heads at the tip of a drain snakes cable: cutting heads and coil heads. Some drain snakes allow you to switch out the heads, but most have one fixed head.

Most of the drain snakes used by the average homeowner have a small crank thats turned by hand to advance and retract the cable. These manual drain snakes are fine for occasional use around the house to unclog simple blockages in your kitchen or bathroom sink, tub, or toilet. If you expect to use your drain snake on a regular basis (perhaps you live in an older home with temperamental plumbing, or have family members unsure of what should not be put down the drain), or you need to tackle major clogs in water mains, downspouts, or washing machines, you might prefer the extra muscle and reduced hand strain of an electric drain snake. These tools advance and retract the cable at the push of a button, and power their way through very stubborn clogs. Youll pay for that oomph, however: As a general rule, while manual drain snakes are fairly inexpensive, youll pay three or four times that amount for an electric plumbing snake.

Here are five drain snakes for a variety of uses that win rave reviews for getting the job done quickly and relatively easily.

Whether the clog is in your kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower drain, or tub drain, the RIDGID Power Spin can come to the rescue. Its manual crank sends the 25-foot, -inch cable twisting and turning its way down your pipes, while the screw-shaped head chews through semi-solid clogs and also catches and retrieves hair, paper, or other fibrous gunk. But if you want a little more power than a hand-crank can provide, just attach the drain snake to your power drill, and voila! Now its an electric plumbing snake. Reviewers praise its effectiveness and the convenience using it either manually or with a power drill.

While almost any drain snake can clear clogs from a toilet, theres a risk of scratching or damaging the porcelain bowl in the process. Not so with the RIDGID K-3 Toilet Auger, which has a vinyl protective sheath over the metal cable to prevent unsightly scratches. This drain snake is also specifically designed for toilets: Position the rigid 30-inch tube inside the toilet so the rubber foot rests right at the bowls outlet, and then crank the three-foot cable down and through the twists and turns of the plumbing. The kink-resistant, super-flexible cable is long enough to reach simple blockages, and the bulbous coiled head easily breaks through soft clogs so they can flush away, but catches and retrieves more solid problems, including diapers, wadded toilet paper, flushed toys, and dropped jewelry. Pleased buyersnotethat it made quick work of busting through even stubborn clogs that plungers couldnt budge.

One of the most common causes of slow-draining bathroom sinks and shower or tub drains is a wad of shed hair in the drainpipe. Luckily, the FlexiSnake Drain Weasel is designed to catch and retrieve balls of hair and gunk from a sink, shower,or tub drain. Crank the handle to send the 18-inch flexible snake down the drain and let its bristly tip, covered with micro-hooks, grab onto clumps of hair. Once the clog is gone, you can toss away the head of the snake (five replacement snake heads are included)no need to store a dirty, gunky tool. Reviewersrave about how effectively it works.

Tough clogs require tough solutionsjust what youll get with the TACKLIFE Drain Auger. This battery-powered drain snake has enough muscle to push through all manner of clogs in pipes with widths between to three inches in diameter, which includes all types of sinks, tubs, showers, downspouts, and most garden irrigation systems. The cable is 25 feet long with a corkscrew-shaped head, and the lithium-ion battery charges quickly and remains charged until the job is done. Theres even a small LED work light at the base of the handleno need to hunt down a flashlight. Handy homeowners praise its ability to tackle clogs that otherwise would have required a plumbers services.

When dealing with a clog beyond the reach of the typical drain snake, you need the extra length provided by the Cobra Products 50-Foot Drain Auger. Its flexible cable is -inch thick andits corkscrew head plows through most common obstructions. Be aware, however, thatmanually cranking an extra-long drain snake takes quite a bit of muscle and perseverance. Many reviewers mention their surprise athow well it conquered even tough clogs in both indoor and outdoor plumbing.

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5 Best Drain Snakes for Clogged Sinks, Showers, and Toilets - BobVila.com