Tip & How-To about Plumbing
Often a drain runs slowly or hardly at all taking a long time to empty out. My tip is to wait for the drain finish emptying and then pour in about three cups of household bleach, and let sit for at least 6 hours. The bleach will sit on the obstruction and beak up and dissolve most objects such as soap residue combined with hair etc. without harming your pipes.
The other plus is that in cases where the blockage becomes worse and it is necessary to snake or open the line you will not be exposed to caustic chemicals.
This is especially helpful when you have old cast pipes and fittings in which the turns did not sweep as newer pipes made now do.
Empty the dishwasher and remove the dish racks so that you can easily locate the drain inside your dishwasher. The drain is under a drain grate, usually at the back of the dishwasher.
Remove the drain grate by either popping the grate out, or by unscrewing the screws holding it in place. Different types of dishwashers will have different options.
Use the soapy water and the toothbrush or scrub brush to clean inside the drain area and the grate.
Rinse the drain area with clean water. Then replace the drain grate.
Pour ½ cup of salt, 1 cup of baking soda and 2 cups of vinegar into the drain (in that order). The mixture will bubble. This will clean the drain and the drain hose.
Wait until the vinegar/baking soda mixture has stopped bubbling. Then pour 1 cup of bleach into your detergent dispenser. Replace the dish racks and run the empty dishwasher on a regular cycle. This will clean the entire machine
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