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The drain pipe and trap on my bathroom sink are made of plastic, and every four to six months I find that it slows down. When I disassemble it, the pipe walls are coated with maybe 1/8" of disgusting brown and black slim, probably fungal in nature. I end up having to shove paper towels through the pipes, which pushes out the slim in a stomach-churning sleeve-shaped blob.

Is there a product I can use to prevent this, or to clean it up when the drain slows?

My sink is cultured marble and the drain itself is stainless steel, so I don't want to damage them.

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That sludge is really just a mix of soap, water, skin cells, hair, tooth paste and all the other lovely stuff that goes down your drain. I doubt it is fungus.

You can't really prevent it. There are all sorts of chemical and non-chemical mixtures you can try to clean it out, but I think removing the trap and cleaning it out is the best bet. If the trap is easy to remove, why pour harmful chemicals down and into your water supply?

If the sludge is soft and comes off easily, you might have some luck filling the sink with really hot water and then draining it quickly.

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  • Both suggestions are excellent.
    – random_user_name
    Commented Mar 23, 2012 at 13:37
  • If you are on a septic system, it is always better to remove the gunk rather than push it into your tank.
    – Peter Rowell
    Commented May 21, 2012 at 20:38

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