Sink Drains Slowly? Do These Things Before Calling

Skip the chemical drain cleaner

Start here because it's the mistake most people make first. Caustic drain cleaners rarely clear a genuine blockage, they sit in the trap corroding older pipe and seals, and they make the line hazardous for whoever opens it next. If the sink still doesn't drain after you've poured it in, you have the same clog plus a pipe full of caustic liquid.

Pull and clean the stopper

In a bathroom sink, the pop-up stopper is the single most likely culprit. Hair and soap wrap around the pivot rod under the basin. Loosen the retaining nut at the back of the drain body, pull the stopper out, and look at what comes with it.

Clean the P-trap

Put a bucket underneath, unscrew the two slip nuts, and take the trap off. This is where kitchen grease and bathroom debris accumulate. It is a genuinely simple job and it resolves a large share of slow drains.

If it's still slow, the blockage is further down

Past the trap you're into the branch line inside the wall, and that needs a cable machine rather than a plunger. This is the point to call rather than pushing something rigid into the pipe.

If several fixtures are slow at once

That changes the diagnosis entirely. Multiple slow fixtures, gurgling, or water rising in a tub when the washing machine drains means the blockage is in the main line, not the branch. Main line blockages need clearing quickly because the next stage is a backup into the lowest fixture in the house.