Cleaning with kids: when science and plumbing combine

Last week, before heading to Byron Bay, the kids were brushing their teeth one morning. It was a routine affair filled with more monkeying around and nagging then you can possibly imagine, but that’s teeth-brushing with small children.

When the job was done, and it came time to rinse the sink (because let’s not waste water and brush with a running tap), the water rather reluctantly trickled away.

After unscrewing the push-down plug, squinting into the dark drain and poking around with an old chopstick, a gunky, but not blocked sink was identified. Fear not. I had two willing and able side-kicks and the knowledge to fix the problem. For those of you who encounter a similar problem, I thought I’d share my child-proof remedy.

The best way to unblock a sink requires a plunger and unscrewing the U bend for cleaning. And for a serious blockage, this is what I would recommend.

In our instance, where water was still draining, I skipped these first two steps. Though, if our problem returns, I’ll roll up my sleeves and get serious next time. For now, a quick fix seemed to suffice.

To clean out our bathroom pipes, one child poured half a cup of bicarb soda down the drain, and the other child then gleefully tipped half a cup of vinegar in. With squeals of delight and cheers all around, I then popped the plug back in to contain the volcanic eruption of foam. After all, we want the reaction to take place in the pipes, not the sink. Sad faces all around.

Once the foaming noises subsided, another half-cup of vinegar was tipped down the sink, the plug re-inserted, and we went off in search of another short adventure.

Thirty minutes later, we returned to the bathroom, armed with a full kettle of boiling water.

As the responsible adult, the tasking of tipping boiling water down the drain was self-allocated to me. The hot liquid provided the finishing touch to cleaning out toothpaste induced slime. We tested the drain, and for the sake of consistency, the children insisted on brushing their teeth a second time, just to be sure it would drain away. Satisfied with the result, we called it a success.  Here’s hoping it works for you too.

*In the name of full disclosure, the photograph at the top is of our bath and my favourite solid shampoo and conditioning bars by Ethique. But when should the facts get in the way of a good story? Besides, I’ve already shown you my sink here so thought I’d venture into unchartered territories.