An amazing trick! Our 1-minute video shows you how to easily retrieve anything that went down the drain…without a pipe wrench or a plumber.
Something Down The Drain?
Retrieve it Without a Wrench.
Previous post: Travel Hack: Control the Clutter
Next post: No-Mess Popsicles!
{ 594 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Have an old toilet that won,t flush?
It must make a noise at the end of a flush.
Maybe the tiny holes under the rim are rusty and slow the water down.
To test for this, throw a bucket of water in the toilet fast.
If it now makes the noise, buy a new toilet or try to clean out the holes.
Wow! Excellent tip. Wish I would have known about this before!
Genius. Thank you! Just bookmarked your site.
Just do what I do. It’s simple…Just close the sink drain while you take all your rings, earrings, etc. on the counter while you bathe. Also put them in the same bathroom while you’re doing the dishes. I haven’t lost anything so far, and being careful doesn’t take long.
That’s preventative not remedial but yeah. Thanks.
bob don’t leave the vacuum on too long,flammable gasses in the sewer can be drawn in and explode.
I saw your name Stubbs. My mother was adopetd by Stubbs and lived in Cedar Rapids . There name was Edwin and Clarea. They passed away in the 40’sI was looking for a conection
Great idea – - I’ve always done it the hard way !
I love my Shop-Vac in ways that are illegal in some states. Another great trick…the turn off valve to the sprinkler system. I had to duct take a smaller hose on to the shop vac hose, but rocks, grass, green apples all came out.
Great trick!!
My better half dropped the top of a tube of toothpaste down the drain a few days ago.. I noticed the drainage not going down as it used to. After the water is running a few seconds it slowly starts to back up, as soon as the water is turned off it, the sink drains again. Is it to late to give the wet vac a shot??
Fantastic tip. Unfortunately not all of us have a wet&dry vac just like that. Thanks for sharing!
This is a good tip. Another was provided me by my plumber: he sold me some stuff called “Bio-Clean”, which uses micro-organisms to prevent tree roots and such from stopping up your drains. JUst don’t put any ofit in your toilets unless you are SURE you have a plastic seal and not a wax one where the toilet enters the pipes! The stuff will eat the wax in a hurry.
And if you forget the preventative measures, some rings, etc have enough iron that a strong magnet, like car mechanics use, will bring it back. Gold and silver don’t respond, of course, but sometimes there is iron or steel as a ring sizer or something similar.
THANK YOU! I knew there was some ingenious way to get something out of the drain without having to take it apart!!
I used my pretty red tranny pantyhose… works great
thanks for the tip
Danielle,
hit me up
Unique example. Who would have thought of it.
Visit my Website.
Several months back I noticed an earring was no longer on my ear! I suspected it fell into the shower drain but assumed it had long gone into the sewer. I happened to watch this video a few days ago. I tried this technique today and it worked! It was a 22-carat gold earring my father gave me when I was 8 yrs. old (a LOOONG time ago) and it was specially nice to get it back since he passed away seven weeks ago.
Thanks for the tip! I never would have thought of the shop-vac. Am bookmarking your site.
Great info!..but where do we get the vac thing?
You can get the wet/dry vac from walmart for about $50.00.
this video was extremely helpful, thank you so much!
If you notice the object he dropped down the sink was nearly the same diameter as the drain. This causes the object to block most of the airflow from getting around it, allowing the vacuum’s suction to pull it up. Of course it will pick it up then. Try a ring and let’s see what happens.
Hi Mike,
I’m a cynic too, but I get emails every day from people who have retrieved rings and other jewelry. Give it a try if you ever drop something down a drain. You have nothing to lose.
Best,
Michael
He just told you in the video…plug the overflow to create more suction!
Good idea but I have found that slipping off the “U” trap (get a small pail first for drips) is easier than shlepping my shop vac from the garage to the bathroom. And the shop vac usually has lots of dry stuff in it so it has to be cleaned out before sucking up water.
Thank you sooo much! I have an expensive hard contact that went down the drain and I got it! You saved me about $300!
Thank YOU!
Thank you so much for this tip-it worked!!! Let’s put the skeptics to rest: I got out of the shower 4 nights ago to see that the (medium-sized) emerald was missing from a very important solitaire ring that’s been on my hand nonstop for 7 years. Everyone said it was long gone but I was determined. I tried to get the shower drain trap off but it didn’t work. I was about to call a plumber when I saw this yesterday, 3 days after I lost it. I got a pair of cheap knee-highs from the pharmacy, slipped one of them over the wet/dry shopvac tube, stuck it over the drain, plugged the bathtub overflow with some plastic bags, and waited a couple of minutes. I lifted the shopvac tube from the drain BEFORE shutting off the vacuum so I could remove the nylon knee-high without everything in it falling out, then I slipped it off and examined the contents. To my delight, the emerald was in there!!!! So then I put the emerald, with my poor forlorn ring, into the remaining clean knee-high, and that back into the little easter-egg it came in, to keep it safe till I can get it to a jeweler to see if they can reset it. So there you go. VERY small object, relatively long distance from drain to trap, and THREE DAYS later…and it still worked. Again, thanks so much!!!
Dropped a heavy gold earring into the sink which of course went all the way down to the water in the trap. Shop vac hose alone over the sink opening did not have enough suction. Purchased about 3 feet of flexible clear tubing to extend the suction power of the shop vac down the drain pipe and into the trap water. Extended the other end of the clear tubing about 6 inches up into the vacuum hose wrapping Saran wrap around the joint of the two tubes. Crimped the clear tubing slightly with my fingers as I sucked out the liquid and other residual material so the ring would be stopped in the clear hose without going into the vacuum. Worked like a charm!
Got that business about Methane right. Mustach hasn’t grown back yet!
Very helpful tip, I’m sure this will benefit a lot of people.
I thank you and my husband thanks you – as he is not the best plumber
Wow….My 3 yr old daughter unscrewed the knob on the bathroom cabinet and then put it on the counter and the knob fell down the sink. My hubby and I tried for about 10 min to get it out (we could see it) and then I got on the internet and googled “how to get something out of bathroom sink” and this page popped up. I told my hubby and 3 min later we had the knob. Thank goodness we owned a wet/dry vacuum. Anyone can pick one up for about $50 from Walmart. Thanks so much!!!!
Hey it worked, just used this tip with my small shop vac, to retrive my daughers locket,,, many thanks
My children often drop things down the kitchen sink and it’s always a struggle to get it back out again. Thanks for such for this tip, very helpful.
I’m so glad this works!! Last night my husband and I retrieved a small gold earring from one bathroom, using a neighbor’s wet vac. It worked so well at bringing up sludge he then cleared another drain without any toxic chemicals. I’m a fan.
Thank you!
Margaret
That was very informative and will be useful in the future I am quite certain. Thanks and have a good one.
You made an assumption that everyone just happens to have a wet/dry shop vac at home……that is not realistic
Yeah, you’re right. You’re probably better off paying a plumber $300 to come out than to go get a $50 shop vac that has 1001 uses.
yeah, Really …..lmao !!!!!!!
This video saved my life.
while trying to unclog my shower drain of hair, i dropped my flashlight down the drain. i did a google search, watched this video, and luckily own a shop vac so this worked perfectly! GENIUS!!! THANK YOU!!!!!
Hi, my sister had dropped a pearl earring down the drain, and although we don’t have a wet/dry vacuum, we hope our neighbors do! I wanted to thank you so much it helped a bunch and it was such a creative idea! Thanks a bunch!
Leah
i flushed a large hair clip down the toilet!!!! 6 inches wide, 4 inches high and 3inches wide… help…. i bought a snake and it wont retrieve it
very helpful thanks !
I couldn’t use a central vacuum could i? Just dropped a locket down there!
If one doesn’t own a shop-vac, is there another way to get the items out without having to take the sink apart? Any info would be much appreciated!
I just dropped a hard contact lens down my bathroom sink. Came online, saw this video, & viola! Less then 10 minutes after dropping, I vacuumed it right back out. Thanks so much!
The shower drain in our holiday home in Bordeaux was sluggish taking away the water. We tried plunging, cleaners etc to no avail. Tried the water vac and pantyhose trick and it sucked up a whole load sludge & hair that was blocking the drainage pipe. The pipe is 2 meters long. It’s been bugging me for a long time, so thank you very much Michael.
My recemented crown popped off yesterday and slipped out of my hand while rinsing it off. (I know-an ounce of prevention). I was looking at the wall of tools and checked the internet again to see what I needed, and this time I saw this tip. I got a small shop vac for $20 and had my crown back in five minutes, including taking off the stopper!
← Previous Comments
{ 31 trackbacks }