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Fun with snakes

This week the drain started flowing slower and slower again. So I got out my handy dandy snake and got to work. I know that snaking out your own drains is way cheaper than hiring Mr. Plumber Buttcrack out to do the job. My sewer snake cost about $30 – which is a fraction of the cost of just getting a plumber out to your house.

After locating the cleaning access (and making sure no one started the dishwasher on me) I go ready to get to business.

The snake (or auger) that I use for cleaning my septic lines is a bit bigger than what you might use for cleaning the bathroom sink. It has a large, pointy head for breaking through those hard to clear rubber duckies.

Cleaning the clog is as easy as unrolling the snake into the pipe and using a little elbow grease to bash through any clots you might hit. A firm in and out motion usually does the job for me. I used my elbow grease to break up some pretty hefty grease clots in the line.


As you can see, the line gets pretty grunky during the cleaning. My clog is mostly grease, but I’m not sure I want to know what else is on there…..

Once you’ve broken through the clog, the drains should flow smoothly again. If your snake is made out of metal ,like mine, it’s very important to clean and oil it before you put it away, so it doesn’t rust. I simply wipe the snake clean with a paper towel and then wipe it with an oil covered paper towel. I use 3-in-1 oil, cause that’s what I had laying around. WD-40 or just about any other oil would work just as well.

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