Does your kitchen or bathroom sink smell like sewage when you run the water (or even when you don’t)?
In the bathroom, it’s likely because of a blocked or dry sink drain trap (P-trap).
Foul smells from the kitchen sink, on the other hand, are most likely from tiny bits of rotting food stuck in the pipes and the bacteria that forms as a result. These bacteria release hydrogen sulfide gas, the culprit of that sewage-y, rotten-egg smell; it’s also called hydrosulphuric acid, sewer gas, or egg gas. An unpleasant smell can also come from a gunked-up garbage disposal.
Whatever icky kitchen or bathroom sink smell is plaguing you, there’s a way to get rid of it using a number of simple DIY solutions. We’ll walk you through it.
Vinegar, With Or Without Baking Soda
Distilled white vinegar can kill germs, mold, and bacteria. Simply pouring a cup or so down the drain and waiting might be all you need to control the stench. Once you’ve poured it down, wait half an hour before running hot water for several minutes to flush it away.
If that doesn’t work, you can combine vinegar and baking soda.* Pour ½ to 1 cup baking soda down the drain and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then pour ¼ to ½ cup of vinegar down and let it sit for another 15 minutes. Then flush it down the drain with hot or boiling water.
*A vinegar-soda combination can damage your pipes over time. Try vinegar alone first and then repeat with the addition of baking soda only when and if it’s necessary.
Ice Cubes, Salt & Citrus
If your disposal is gunked up with old food, you need to get the blades clean to control the smell. You can do so with simple household ingredients.
Drop some ice cubes in the disposal followed by a few tablespoons of kosher salt and run the disposal for a few moments. This helps scrub the blades. Repeat. If you like, run some citrus peels through the disposal for about 30 seconds for a fresh limey, lemony, orangey, or grapefruity scent. Flush with water.
Plunger
If your sink is smelly and plugged, you may need to use a plunger to dislodge the gunk and get your sink draining again. Fill the sink halfway with water. Using a clean plunger (please don’t repurpose your toilet plunger, for obvious reasons), cover the drain completely. Pump it up and down several times then check to see if the water is draining. Keep plunging until the water drains freely. If the sink is still stinky, try some of the suggestions above.
Fix Your P-Trap
If none of this works, you might have a dry P-trap. The P-trap is the U-shaped pipe beneath your sink that’s designed to trap water in order to keep sewer gases from wafting up through the drain. If you haven’t used your sink in a while, the protective water in the trap might have evaporated. If that’s the case, you might just need to run some water to fill the trap. It could also be caused by a blockage. If the plunger trick doesn’t work to resolve this, it may be time to call in a plumber. (We know a guy.)
Sources
How to Eliminate Kitchen Sink Odors, Mel Childs, thisoldhouse.com
Hydrogen sulfide, Wikipedia
Smelly Sink: How to fix a kitchen sink that smells, Tom Drake, tapwarehouse.com
We Tested the Best Methods for Getting Rid of Stinky Sink Smells — and Found a Clear Winner, Cambria Bold, thekitchn.com