Not a tool as such, more a product, but just thought I'd pass on my experiences with this:-


Had to unblock two basins in one house today, one of which was barely draining at all, even when left overnight. Boiling water down the plughole didn't shift it, my fancy plunger didn't shift it, so I thought I'd crack open a can of this to see how well it worked before resigning myself to removing the trap and clearing the gunk out by hand.

In short, it's a great product; bit of gaffer tape over the overflow, held in place with one hand, and three 1 second squirts of this (the last of which was probably unnecessary) and the fully blocked basin was draining perfectly.

At around 14 quid a can, it's not cheap, but there's enough in there to do 4 or 5 blockages. For the amount of time and hassle it saves, it's worth it. I'll keep a can on the van and just use it by default in future.

Only downsides I can see are 1) that you should, I'd suggest, check the waste plumbing looks sound and not held together with silicone before using this, as the air blasts out with considerable force. I can imagine some of the shonkier bits of pipework you see might let go under the pressure, and:-

2) It was embarrassing how quickly I was in and out of the customer's house having used this to clear 2 sinks (about 20 minutes, most of which was chatting about the weather, etc). The guy had spent an hour emptying out the sink units so I could gain access to the pipework, and could barely believe it when I told him I was done. :)

I too would be a little concerned about the joints on the pipework using this product, especially hidden joins..

Had a job a couple of years back where a customer had read that soda crystals would keep the wastes free and flowing, I went to have a look.

The pipework was completely blocked with...


Soda crystals..

Even caustic soda wouldn't clear it... Had to re-pipe the lot and explain the difference.

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Verwood Handyman


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I presume it's been fully tested against properly-fitted compression joints, etc. otherwise it'd be a bit of sue-fest against the manufacturer with the way things are these days, but you do see so many dodgy waste installations underneath sinks, with half a tube of silicone or similar gunk smeared around joints that turn out to have no washer or sealing ring or whatever -- wouldn't fancy the chances of such a set-up surviving this product!


Heheh! To be honest, I suspect something similar in this house I was at today as I was a bit suspicious that both the bathroom and en-suite basins (totally separate waste runs) should become blocked at the same time. The home-owner pleaded innocence though, so who am I to argue

I have used this a few times and it's brilliant ;-)

My mate used to work for a large housing association and they used it all the time!

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