Unclog a slow bathroom sink
A bathroom sink that drains slowly is almost always a hair-and-soap plug sitting just below the stopper. Here is the ten-minute fix, animated, using a £2 plastic tool instead of drain cleaner.
5 animated steps
How-to, on loop.
Stuck on something small?
Watch the loop.
Every guide on Howloop is a short animation that shows the fix from the angle you can't see in real life — inside the drain, inside the tank, inside the phone. Watch it twice, then go and do it.
- No 12-minute video. The whole fix in 30 seconds.
- Scrub any step. Pause on the bit you're on.
- Written out too. Every animation has a text version.
Unclog a slow bathroom sink
Step 1 Look at what you are dealing with The water is standing because a plug of hair bound with soap scum is wedged in the tailpiece, usually within 15 cm of the plughole. Nothing further down is blocked.
Step 2 Pop the stopper out Lift the stopper and twist. If it will not lift free, reach under the basin and unclip the horizontal pivot rod behind the tailpiece, then lift the stopper straight out.
Step 3 Feed the barbed tool down past the clog Push the strip in slowly and keep it going until you feel it pass the resistance. Forcing it turns a loose plug into a packed one.
Step 4 Pull it back up slowly Draw the tool out in one steady movement so the barbs keep their grip. Wipe it onto an old towel, not back into the basin, and repeat until it comes up clean.
Step 5 Flush, refit and test Run the hot tap for a full minute to carry the loosened scum away, refit the stopper and pivot rod, then fill the basin and watch it empty in one smooth swirl.
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Why animations beat photos and long videos
You can see through things
The reason a slow drain or a running toilet is confusing is that the problem is hidden inside a pipe or behind a wall. A drawing can cut straight through it. A camera can't.
Timing is the instruction
"Pull it out slowly" and "pull it out" look identical in a photo. Motion carries the part of the instruction that words are bad at.
You control the clock
No scrubbing through an intro, a sponsor read and three minutes of setup. Each step is its own frame, and you sit on it as long as you like.