When you get a clog in a drain or a pipe, you can often clean it out yourself without having to call a plumber. There are various inexpensive tools you can use to clean a drain or pipe, including the Zip-It and Turbo Snake. Another tool is the Home Essentials 5' drain cleaner brush. (It was branded as "Home Essentials" when I bought it, but it might be labeled as another brand now -- should still be the same brush though.) While it's longer than the other two, it may or may not be better suited for the particular job you need.The Home Essentials brush, model #83190, is a long bendable plastic tube, with a brush on one end and a handle on the other. It looks like it would be a great drain cleaner, but it's not as flexible as it seems. It wouldn't bend enough to make a shallow U-turn in a rubber pipe joint, nor would it navigate a 90 degree turn in PVC pipe. However, when used in straight PVC pipe it worked great, knocking out a couple of clogs.
The brush itself is made up of sturdy bristles that can probably knock loose just about any clog it comes in contact with. But when you get the brush, because of the way it's packaged, the bristles may be flattened. You'll have to force them back into place, which may or may not be possible. On my brush, I was able to reset the bristles enough to be effective, though not all the bristles would pop back into place. By reading some of the reviews on Amazon, it seems that this is a common problem with this model brush.
The bristles, when they are sticking out like they are supposed to, are a good size for cleaning out a 1" pipe. For a thicker pipe, the brush may or may not work, and for a smaller pipe, the brush should still work as long as you can force the brush through the pipe. The five foot length of the brush seems adequate for most residential jobs, as long as you can force the brush through any turns in the pipe or hose. This brush gets 2.5 out of 5 stars -- an average tool that can be helpful in some situations, but the way it's packaged negates its usefulness a little bit.
The Home Essentials drain cleaner brush is not very expensive, so it may be worth buying it if you have a stubborn clog that other drain cleaners won't clear. It was about $8 when I bought it online a few years ago, but right now Amazon.com has it for just $0.99, plus $4.49 shipping.
(Originally posted on Helium.com, Sept 2011 -- has been updated since then)
