Decent sink drain stoppers...a fool's quest??

[Pierogi]

I belong to a local CSA, and, of course get a large amount of varied greens in my shares. Even though they do a spectacular job of cleaning their produce, I still like to soak the greens for bit in the sink, to ensure I don't get any added protein from little hitchhikers... . I have yet to find a drain stopper that will hold a seal, and not let the water slowly drain out. I have an ancient, double-bowl stainless sink. One size has a disposal. NEITHER side will hold water for even 10 minutes. I would prefer to soak in the side with the disposal, but at this point, I'll take what I can get. I just bought a new stopper from the manufacturer of the disposal....leaks like a sieve. For physical reasons, I don't want to use a large tub and soak outside the sink...can't do the heavy lifting.

Any suggestions for a sink stopper that actually STOPS something? I can't be the only person who has this problem.

Thanks in advance!

[ElainaA]

My husband (a master plumber) read this over my shoulder. He says, in his opinion, anything you can get directly is not likely to work. "You need a competent, professional plumber" (which does not describe all plumbers out there). He suggest Angie's List. He says this is fixable.

Good luck.

[Shel_B]

I have a stainless sink with an Insinkerator disposal. The stopper that I have, and I believe it's an Insinkerator stopper, works perfectly. Last week I filled the sink to soak a few pots,left for most of the day, and when I returned some five hours later, the water hadn't dropped one bit. So, maybe the manufacturer of your disposal has a stopper, and may be it will do a better job that what you're now using. If you're using an Insinkerator disposal, you can check out their stoppers here: http://www.build.com/insinkerator-accessories/c111494

I am not recommending this supplier, having never used them, but mentioned it to show you the options.

[dcarch]

Basically you need to find a stopper which is very soft (compliant). When you fill the sink up with water, the static hydraulic pressure pushes down to form a leak proof seal.

Silicone rubber is very good. Regular rubber can get hard over time and leak.

dcarch

[Martin Fisher]

Stubborn sink and drain, ay?

When all else fails, I guarantee that the following option will work.....it's an expanding pipe stopper/test plug.....when you turn the wing nut the rubber stopper expands closing off the drain tightly!

They work like a charm....I've used them for years to stop stubborn drains.

They should be available at your local plumbing supply.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/pipe-and-test-plugs/pipe-and-test-plugs/plumbing/ecatalog/N-n0s

[Pierogi]

Hmmmm....can't quite wrap my head around needing a plumber for this. Maybe it's my naïveté, but to my mind the problem is the stopper, not the drain opening. I mean, the openings are standard, and I can't think how they could've gotten out of round or worn down even in the 40-plus years the sink's been in use. It's not like I pound on them with a 10-pound sledge (see problems with heavy lifting..... ) But I know nothing about plumbing, so I'm probably wrong !

Shel, the disposal is an Insinkerator, installed about 5 years ago. I trashed the original stopper that came with it, and replaced it with one labeled on the packaging as made by Insinkerator. However, I bought it at Ace hardware, not through ISE. But it leaks as badly as the one I ditched. That was maybe 3 months ago, and it leaked from day one.

dcarch, I think you and Digging Dog Farms are onto something. I hadn't thought about Grainger....that's a good source. And I *had* thought about silicone, since I assumed the problem was with the other "rubbery" stuff on the stoppers. Any sources for the silicone-edged guys? I haven't seen them.

Off to surf Amazon and Grainger, but keep the ideas comin'.

[Smithy]

I don't have a garbage disposal, but I have been plagued with the stopper problem. My stoppers have drain baskets with stoppers built into them. In theory you turn and drop the stopper into position, or you do...something that isn't clear to me...so that the stopper stays up when desired to allow water to drain out via the basket, or sits tightly in the hole when you want it to be a stopper. So far it seems to work the opposite way: when I want the sink to hold water I made 2 or 3 or 5 attempts, then finally get the stopper to hold. That's fine until it's time to drain the water; then I have to stand and hold the stopper up or else let the water bypass the drain basket. Very frustrating. I have one strainer/stopper that came with my new sink, and one off-the-shelf model. Can't say one works better than the other.

I hadn't thought of Grainger either. I'll go see if they have something that would expand the stopper properly but has a built-in strainer basket. Anyone else?

[andiesenji]

I have had the same problem.

I bought ONE OF THESE Problem solved. Actually I bought 3 so I have one for each sink and it fits the garbage disposal side too.

[Smithy]

Andie, you're always a great resource.

Does this sink stopper allow a good seal over an in-drain strainer? I don't have a garbage disposal and I really don't want bits of greenery or rice going down the drain to clog the plumbing when I'm draining the wash water.

[Shel_B]

Hmmmm....can't quite wrap my head around needing a plumber for this. Maybe it's my naïveté, but to my mind the problem is the stopper ...

Shel, the disposal is an Insinkerator, installed about 5 years ago. I trashed the original stopper that came with it, and replaced it with one labeled on the packaging as made by Insinkerator. However, I bought it at Ace hardware, not through ISE. But it leaks as badly as the one I ditched. That was maybe 3 months ago, and it leaked from day one.

I agree that it's a matter of finding the right stopper. You may need to do a bit of trial and error. but you're learning enough here to at least know the direction in which to search.

That said, this evening I looked at my stopper. Turns out, it's not an Insinkerator, but some hardware store generic unit. It still works beautifully, so that bodes well for your chances. Good luck ... let us know what works for you.

[andiesenji]

Andie, you're always a great resource.

Does this sink stopper allow a good seal over an in-drain strainer? I don't have a garbage disposal and I really don't want bits of greenery or rice going down the drain to clog the plumbing when I'm draining the wash water.

No. But I don't use a regular strainer in the sink on the side without the garbage disposal - that side is a very deep sink that I use for soaking fruits in a water with vinegar solution as they keep longer with the "bath". I buy the stainless steel scrubbies, and stuff them down in the drain and put this stopper on top. The scrubby allows water to drain and catches everything that might clog up the drain and especially little bits of rock - because that drain transfers into the garbage disposal and it can get a bit noisy and those tiny pebbles can go right through a regular strainer.

I measured my sink drain and from the rim to the bottom is 3 1/8 inches so plenty of room for the scrubby under the stopper. However you can always cut some of the scrubby "foil" off to reduce the size. I cut them in half for the bath tubs to keep hair from clogging the drains.

I stick the scrubbies on the posts in the dishwasher to clean them.

[Pierogi]

Andie, about an hour after I put up my original post, I thought....."boy, I bet Andie will have something to suggest...sure hope so". Et voila....our Goddess of Gizmos came through, as always. One of those will be in my sink, shortly. Thank you!!

[Fernwood]

SUCTION SINK STOPPER Seals against the surface around the drain, so fits almost anything. I think this is the super-simple version and that Angie's suggestion may be the same concept with a more substantial handle. I might prefer that bigger handle now that my fingers are not as strong and nimble as they used to be.

[dcarch]

SUCTION SINK STOPPER Seals against the surface around the drain, so fits almost anything. I think this is the super-simple version and that Angie's suggestion may be the same concept with a more substantial handle. I might prefer that bigger handle now that my fingers are not as strong and nimble as they used to be.

"Suction" is incorrect. There is no suction involved. It is all water pressure as I said.

The problem with rubber is that it ages and hardens due to ozone in air and will not give a proper seal.

Silicone lasts much longer and remains flexible.

dcarch

[Shel_B]

The problem with rubber is that it ages and hardens due to ozone in air and will not give a proper seal.

Silicone lasts much longer and remains flexible.

I believe many people use the term "rubber" to describe or define many things that have similar properties to rubber, such as flexibility, degrees of softness, and which are now used instead of similar items that, at one time, were, indeed, made of rubber.

[andiesenji]

Andie, about an hour after I put up my original post, I thought....."boy, I bet Andie will have something to suggest...sure hope so". Et voila....our Goddess of Gizmos came through, as always. One of those will be in my sink, shortly. Thank you!!

You are very welcome.

Years ago my dad used to say I should have been an engineer because of the way I could think up ways to use ordinary things in unusual ways.

Edited October 21, 2013 by andiesenji (log)

[ElainaA]

OK - I asked my husband the plumber why you would need a professional with a question this simple. His answer was that any of these options may work or they may not depending on the exact drain/sink type involved. A professional should know exactly what will work rather than depending on trial and error. Perhaps your first try will be successful - or not. And perhaps a service call will cost more than you want to pay. But I would expect many on this board to recognize that expertise can matter. I can't count the number of service calls he answers after people have tried multiple fixes on their own. And then they are angry that 'it seems so easy'.

Elaina

[andiesenji]

I dug out the old sink stopper, which also fits the garbage disposal side, so you can see the difference in construction.

You can see that the narrow "flange" on the black stopper is very thin (and cracked in spots, due to age), while the newer one, I posted the link to above, has two flexible flanges.

These may degrade with time but they are cheap enough so I have purchased backups.

[lindag]

Not a sink stopper but I had to mention it because I've found it to be so handy.

http://www.amazon.com/Danco-10051-Disposal-Genie-Black/dp/B002VHS19M/ref=sr_1_11?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1382447579&sr=1-11&keywords=silicone+sink+stopper

I've been inclined on occasion to have spoons/tools go into the disposer undetected. This item is just the thing.

[andiesenji]

Not a sink stopper but I had to mention it because I've found it to be so handy.

http://www.amazon.com/Danco-10051-Disposal-Genie-Black/dp/B002VHS19M/ref=sr_1_11?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1382447579&sr=1-11&keywords=silicone+sink+stopper

I've been inclined on occasion to have spoons/tools go into the disposer undetected. This item is just the thing.

That is clever. I have a thingy just for the disposal to keep small stuff from falling in... But yours looks much better and multi-tasking.

Just ordered a green one...

Edited October 22, 2013 by andiesenji (log)

[Toliver]

Basically you need to find a stopper which is very soft (compliant). When you fill the sink up with water, the static hydraulic pressure pushes down to form a leak proof seal.

The last time I had to clean greens, I couldn't find my sink stopper. I ended up putting a plastic Cool Whip container lid over the drain opening. I ran enough water into the sink that the weight of the water prevented the lid from moving. It worked well in a pinch...

[andiesenji]

I do have a couple of the flat soft rubber "stoppers" that used to be widely available - and they still are like this but used to be in every supermarket in the area with the scrubbers, sponges and etc.

I use them in the laundry tub and the tub in which I used to wash the dogs when I was still showing them.

They work on the same principle as your Cool Whip container lid (something that has never graced my kitchen) but they do become brittle and crack after a few years. I checked and both of mine are cracked and I doubt they would keep water in the sink.

[Kim Shook]

Bumping this up for possibly newer advice.  I'm tired of using this unreliable stopper in my sink:

I lost 2 full sinksful of water trying to wash my collard greens.  The first sinkful was fine but subsequent two just leaked out.  Can anyone suggest a better one?

[rotuts]

@Kim Shook 

 

its difficult to see what you have upper L

 

but its probably similar to what i have and many others.

 

the rubber lip over time gets hard , and no longer seal well

 

1 ) try getting a new one  Im sure you've thought about that

 

what Ive done is save plastic produce bags , as long as there are clean

 

and fold a deflated bag over several times to get to a square that a bit larger than

 

the ' plug '   place the plug on top of that square 

 

making sure all of the lip is covered over

 

and put that ( plastic square + plug )

 

evenly into the drain and give it s test

 

this was always worked for me as long as the square is larger

 

than the plug

 

hope you get the idea

 

if not , Ill take some pics tomorrow

 

Line of Duty , season 6 calls.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Bumping this up for possibly newer advice.  I'm tired of using this unreliable stopper in my sink:

I lost 2 full sinksful of water trying to wash my collard greens.  The first sinkful was fine but subsequent two just leaked out.  Can anyone suggest a better one?

 

I may be missing something, but why not use a bowl?