DIY Drain Cleaner

Have you ever done the dishes and noticed your drains are a little on the slow side?  Or that there is this nasty smell emanating from them?  Especially if you have a garbage disposal?  Well, I've had to deal with this smell all too often.  It smells like something crawled into your sink and died.  It's the worst.  You can use some of that expensive drain cleaner, but oh the chemicals!  Not to mention that if you aren't careful, those chemicals can corrode your pipes.  No body wants to deal with leaky pipes.  But why use that stuff then there's a less expensive and way safer alternative?

I present to you, yet another use of baking soda and vinegar!  Only this time, add some lemon juice!  Take a quarter cup of baking soda per drain and sprinkle in and around the drain.  Take a quarter cup of vinegar and pour in and around the drain too.  Let the stuff sit for about ten or fifteen minutes.  Pour about four cups of boiling water down the drain to flush everything out.  Repeat until you are satisfied (I normally do this twice).  Once you're happy, take two tablespoons of lemon juice and pour down the drain (gives a nice lemon-y smell...mmm...lemons).

If you have a garbage disposal, just pour the lemon juice into some ice cube trays and put into the freezer.  Once frozen, you can plop a few cubes down the "drain monster" and turn it on until there's no more cubes.  This helps to give that nice lemon-y smell and  cleans the blades!