A slow bathroom drain is almost always a mat of hair and soap just below the stopper — not a deep blockage. Before any chemical touches it, pull the stopper and fish the clog out with a cheap plastic drain snake or a bent wire. Unpleasant, quick, and it solves most cases outright.
Kitchen sinks clog differently: grease coats the pipe and narrows it over months. A kettle of boiling water, a squirt of dish soap, and a plunger handled with the overflow blocked off shifts more than people expect. A cup of baking soda followed by vinegar, left half an hour and flushed hot, helps maintenance but won’t move a solid plug.
Chemical drain openers are the last resort, not the first — they’re hard on older pipes, and if they fail, the standing water in the trap is now hazardous to work in.
If two or more drains slow down together, the problem is deeper in the line, and that’s the point to get help. CMG Bridge, Staten Island, Monday to Saturday: 917-859-4428.