The drain in the sink which we use for mouthwash consistently gets clogged by a very repugnant slime. I've tried all the common drain unclogging products (Drano, Liquid Plumber) as well as some non-standard remedies (e.g., boiling water, vinegar + baking soda), but none of them seem to help. Which means that once a year I have to disassemble the entire drain/trap assembly and manually scrub out the pipes. Can anyone offer another remedy?
(Note: as I've mentioned, this only happens to the sink where we use our morning mouth wash. We tried using a different sink — to confirm the theory — and sure enough, the bio-slime began to build-up in that sink instead. It is apparently caused by the bacterial discharge that is expectorated with the mouthwash.)
UPDATE: I've discovered that the slime only seems to grow in the presence of water. So my initial habit of running the faucet after spitting was actually counter-productive. I now resist the urge to rinse out the mouthwash and it seems to have solved the problem.
Best Answer
This has been an ongoing problem in the bathroom sink we use the most. When I was using conventional solutions (Drano and the like) to unclog it, I just assumed that there was a bunch of hair in the drain. This was a problem every couple of weeks, though, and I hated spending so much money on toxic drain cleaners. A couple of years ago, I happened across a long and flexible, toothed tool called Zip-It at the hardware store, and I've not had to invest in drain cleaner since. Since this tool pulls whatever's clogging the drain out of it, I learned that it wasn't only hair causing the sink to backup - it was also tons and tons of black slime. It's pretty gnarly, but it's satisfying to know that I'm actually physically removing this stuff from the drain! I saw that the tool is sold online as well, and I noticed that it's marketed in some places as a one-time use tool, but that's ridiculous. I've used the same one since I bought it two years ago, and it still works as it should. It's really cheap, though (I think I paid $3 for it), so even if the teeth do break off, it's easy enough to buy another one.
That drain still clogs with black slime every couple of months, and even though I can pull it out, I'd like to prevent it if possible. So, I'm going to start using baking soda + vinegar + hot water to see if that works to prevent it.