How to Unclog a Kitchen Sink in 6 Steps (Double Sinks and Disposals Too)
By Mike Holt, NJ Master Plumber · October 31, 2026 · 3 min read · Updated November 1, 2026
Quick answer
Run the garbage disposal first. If it hums, turn it off and disconnect the power before you check it. On a double sink, plug the other side, then plunge the clogged side with a cup plunger. If that fails, put a bucket under the sink and clean out the P-trap, then run a small drain snake into the pipe in the wall. Skip chemical drain cleaner.
- Difficulty
- Easy to moderate
- Time
- 15 to 45 minutes
- You need
- Cup plunger, bucket, towels, channel-lock pliers, small drain snake
Rather not risk it? A licensed plumber can handle this for you, with written upfront flat-rate pricing options before any work starts.
Most kitchen sink clogs are grease and food packed into the trap under the sink or the pipe just behind the wall. You can clear most of them yourself in under an hour, without chemicals.
How to unclog a kitchen sink
Step 1: Check the garbage disposal
If the clogged side has a disposal, run cold water and switch it on. If it hums but doesn't spin, it's jammed: switch it off, disconnect the power and follow our garbage disposal guide to free it with the hex key and the reset button. Never put your hand in the disposal.
Step 2: Bail out the water and plug the other side
Scoop the standing water into a bucket so you can see what you're doing. On a double sink, close the other drain with a stopper or a wet rag held down tight. Otherwise the plunger just pushes water up the other side.
Step 3: Try hot water and dish soap
Squirt dish soap into the drain and pour in a pot of hot tap water. Wait 10 minutes. Soap and heat loosen grease, and sometimes that's all it takes. Don't pour in boiling water; it can soften plastic drain joints.
Step 4: Plunge with a cup plunger
Use a flat cup plunger, the kind made for sinks. Leave a few inches of water in the basin so the cup is covered, set it over the drain, and push and pull firmly 15 to 20 times. If you have a dishwasher with an air gap on the counter, hold a wet rag over it while you plunge.
Step 5: Clean out the P-trap
Put a bucket under the curved pipe below the sink. Loosen the two slip nuts by hand or with channel-lock pliers, pull the trap off and empty it. Clean it out, check it for cracks, put it back hand tight and run water to check for drips.
Step 6: Snake the pipe in the wall
With the trap off, feed a small hand drain snake into the pipe going into the wall. Turn the handle as you push. When you feel resistance, keep turning to break up or hook the clog, then pull it back out. Put the trap back and run hot water for a minute.
Is it the sink or the main line?
If the sink is the only slow drain, the clog is in the sink's own line. If other drains are slow, if the lowest drain in the house backs up, or if a toilet gurgles when the sink drains, the clog is in the main line. Stop running water and call us. We clear main lines with a cable machine or hydro jetting and can run a camera to show you why. See drain cleaning.
What not to do
- Don't use chemical drain cleaner, especially with a disposal. It rarely clears grease, it eats at old pipes, and it makes the water dangerous for whoever opens the trap.
- Don't plunge without plugging the other side of a double sink.
- Don't overtighten plastic slip nuts. Hand tight plus a quarter turn is enough.
How to keep it from clogging again
- Pour cooled grease into a jar or can and throw it out. Never down the drain.
- Scrape plates into the trash. Coffee grounds, eggshells, rice and pasta go in the trash too.
- Run cold water while the disposal is on and for 15 seconds after.
- Once a month, run a sink of hot water with dish soap and let it drain all at once.
More habits are in how to keep drains from clogging.
Get tips and reminders
New guides and seasonal reminders. A few emails a year.
Stop and call us if
- Water comes up in the other side of the sink or in the dishwasher when you run the disposal.
- Other drains in the house are slow too, or the lowest drain backs up.
- The trap and the pipe in the wall are clear but the sink still won't drain.
- The P-trap or the pipe in the wall is old metal and won't come apart without cracking.
- You already poured chemical drain cleaner in. Tell us before we plunge.
Call 908-873-6686.
Michael Holt
Owner and operator of Plumbing Doctor, NJ Master Plumber (Lic. #36BI01345600) and U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
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