De-Clogging the wash basin/kitchen sink.

“The wash basin waste water is not flowing out. Please call the plumber!” This is a common exclamation you will hear whenever a wash basin or kitchen sink is clogged.

No worry. You do not need a plumber nor any special tool to de-clog it.

Under every wash basin or kitchen sink, there is an L-shape outlet pipe with a bottle-like contraption at the elbow. This is called the bottle trap. The function of this device is to prevent cockroaches and other creepy crawlies from entering the wash room or kitchen through the outlet pipe.

Besides preventing insects from entering, this bottle trap is also a catchment for sediments and hairs.  Hairs and solid particles are the biggest culprits that caused clogging of the sink and wash basin.

To de-clog, just unscrew the bottle trap with your bare hands and remove the sediments and hair. Wash the bottle trap thoroughly and screw it back. It’s as simple as that.

However, this simple de-clogging technique can become complicated if any of the O-ring rubber seal is damaged. When this happens, the whole set of bottle trap should be replaced.

Recently I inadvertently damaged the O-ring rubber seal while removing the sediments and hairs in the bottle trap.  It was a chrome bottle trap and cost RM39.00 (USD11.00). This chrome-type bottle trap is slimmer and is more aesthetic but clogs easily. It was rusty on the inside and sediments and hairs got trapped faster.

So, I decided to change to the PVC type which costs only RM4.50 (USD1.30). However, I could only find a white colour PVC bottle trap which does not match well with my stainless wash basin.

To overcome this, I bought a can of silver colour spray paint costing RM7.80 (USD2.30)). The final result is an aesthetic looking PVC bottle trap that looks like aluminium and the total cost is only RM12.30 (USD3.60) as compared to the chrome version costing RM39.00 (USD11.50). Furthermore, no tools were used to fix the PVC bottle trap. Only one roll of white sealing tape (RM0.50/USD0.15) was required to seal the threaded joints.  

Re-assemble the bottle trap and putting the O-ring in correct position.

Re fix the bottle trap to the basin.
See for yourselves.  My new PVC bottle trap on the right and the same set re-sprayed with silver paint below.  

Completed job with the new PVCbottle trap. Q.E.D.