How To Get Rid Of A Smelly Sink Drain

Does your kitchen sink drain smell bad? Check out these easy tips on how to get rid of a smelly sink drain. With these tips, your kitchen will smell great again.

I hate it when I have a smelly sink drain. It tends to be in the kitchen sink drain for me.

A smelly kitchen drain can really make your whole kitchen smell bad. Our sink will smell bad enough you really don't want to be in the room.

In our kitchen, we have a split sink. Which means that one side of the sink has a garbage disposal and the other side has just a normal drain.

I regularly clean the garbage disposal drain, you can see here how to clean a smelly garbage disposal. But, I tend to use the other side of the sink less so the drain doesn't get cleaned as often.

Every once in awhile I will notice it is smelling really bad and I have to clean it out.

If you are dealing with a smelly sink drain get rid of it fast! There are a few things that can cause a smelly sink drain, but with these easy tips, you can get rid of the smell. Check out how to get rid of a smelly sink drain now.

Find The Cause of A Smelly Sink Drain

There are a few different things that can cause a smelly sink drain. Once you figure out what is causing the smell then you can stop the smell and keep it from coming back.

It can be anything from not using your drain enough (which is so easy to fix) to a clogged pipe. With these simple tips, you can find the cause of a smelly sink drain and get your room smelling great again.

Clogged Pipe

To start, check to make sure you don't have a clogged pipe. This can easily happen and a backup in the pipes can cause a smelly sink drain.

Run water in your sink for a few minutes to make sure you don't have a backup. If you notice that you have water pooling in your sink or not draining fast enough than most likely it is a clogged pipe.

To fix a clogged pipe you can either buy a store-bought drain cleaner or use this DIY drain cleaner. If your drain is in a bathroom it can often be hair blocking the drain. You can easily clean hair from your drain using this tip.

Once you have the pipe unclogged and running water can flow again the smell will go away quickly.

If you want to help get rid of the smell a little faster after unclogging the pipe I recommend using 10 drops of lemon essential oil in the drain area. Let it sit for a few minutes and then run some hot water down the drain. This works great on a smelly sink drain.

Rarely Used Smelly Sink Drain

If you have a drain that is rarely used you may notice a sewer smell coming from it. It's easy to get rid of the smells by running water for a few minutes.

Just turn the water on cold and let it run for 2-3 minutes. Make sure you stay by the drain just in case it overflows. Turn off the water and the smell should start to go away.

To keep the smell from returning in a rarely used drain make sure you run water in it every couple of weeks. It will help keep that bad sewer smell away.

This often happens to me in our rarely used guest bathroom. Just remembering to turn the water on occasionally really helps. Plus, it helps prevent drain flies.

Bacteria and Food Smells

If your drain is in the kitchen the smell coming from your drain is most likely a food or bacteria smell.

Even if you don't normally put any food down your drain a small amount can sometimes get in there. Usually, I find that a few of my kiddo's ramen noodles went down the drain.

The smell is caused by the food rotting in your drain. Isn't that so gross? Luckily getting rid of that smelly sink drain is pretty easy!

To start, I recommend you check to make sure there isn't any food around the drain area. Those ramen noodles I mentioned will often wrap around the top of the drain and I can pull them out. Remove any food that you see around the drain.

Next, you will want to clean any bacteria from the drain and get rid of the food smells. My preferred way to get rid of the smell is by using bleach. I like to fill up the sink about halfway with warm water and add a cup of bleach to the sink.

Then let the bleach water drain from the sink down into the drain. Once you have done that let the sink sit for about 30 minutes without using the drain. That will allow the bleach to work and kill off any bacteria in the drain.

Once you have let it sit for about 30 minutes then run warm water in your sink for about 2-3 minutes to flush all the bleach out.

Next, I like to fill back up the sink about halfway and add a 1/2 cup of baking soda to the water. If your sink smells really bad you can also add about 10 drops of lemon essential oil to the water too.

Then, let the baking soda water drain from the sink. Again once the water has drained let the sink sit unused for about 30 minutes.

Finally, flush the sink with warm water for about 2-3 minutes. The bleach will help kill off any bacteria that is in your sink drain and the baking soda and lemon essential oil will get rid of any bad smells, plus fight grease that may be in your drain. Your smelly sink drain will smell great!

So say goodbye to a smelly sink drain and hello to a fresh smelly room. No longer do you have to put up with a smelly kitchen sink or a weird smell coming from the guest bathroom.

With these easy tips on how to get rid of a smelly sink drain your house will smell fresh and clean again! Want some more easy cleaning tips? Check out how to make trash can deodorizers so your trash can smells great!