General Pipe CleanersR-25SM Spin Thru Drain Auger with 1/4-Inch by 25-Feet Cable (P-25SM)

Rental house, improperly installed basement shower that piped water to a floor drain by the water heater. Bottoms of walls were rotted when we moved in and we soon found out why. Shower would flood the bathroom regularly. Called slumlord, sent plumber. Landlord charged us without notice. Thing flooded again. No way I'm calling the landlord.Ordered this thing. Failed on the first two tries. Went back, shoved it in there as hard as I could. Finally got it about 20 feet in. When you turn the crank, the tip acts like a screw: it drills into a clog and hooks into it. If you hit a block of hair or something, you'll feel a slight resistance. I hit MAJOR resistance, but it wasn't hard like metal. It was like catching a big fish. I had to pull MUCH harder to get it out this time. Know what I found? A BALLED UP RAG DOWN THE FREAKING DRAIN. 20 FEET BEYOND THE HOLE IN THE FLOOR.Shower runs like a dream now. No more sharing the second bathroom.So grateful for this simple, killer tool. Fantastic bargain for perfect results and peace of mind.I covered the line with tool/gun spray that's supposed to prevent corrosion, as per the suggestion of another reviewer. Too soon to say how well it works, but it seems sensible. I want this thing to last as long as possible.

Wow! I am so broke right now, there is no way I could afford another plumber visit. I live in an older home with a very curvy pipe out of the kitchen sink and if you sneeze wrong it starts to build clog and about every year I have to hire someone to take it apart and snake it, even though I NEVER use the disposal or put any grease down there. So this time when it clogged I decided to buy this instead. The only way I could get in the drain was way at the top before the trap (or I'd have to unglue pipes, which I do not know how to do. So I went in right under the sink by loosening the cinch the last plumber put there......and WOW! The snake went down and around and cleared it all out! Cinched it up again and the water goes out with a slurp!This cost me only $18.74 on Prime. It is extremely heavy duty and all steel, both the cable and the container. You don't need to hook it to a drill or anything. Just push it down to the clog and then turn the handle so it works it around. FABULOUS! I am going to be keeping this in with my tools for the future for sure!Not bad for an old lady if I do say so myself!

Other drain augers are twice the price of this or over, making this indeed the biggest bang for your buck.What you sacrifice for the money is a thick handle, trigger, and the ability to be attached to a drill. That, however, definitely does not affect its usefulness. You can still clean drains just as well with this.How you use it:1. Remove drain stopper (see youtube; when possible make sure to put pan to catch water)2. Make sure the setscrew at the end is tight enough that the piece it is attached to isn't coming off but isn't bitting down on the cleaner3. Pull the cleaner out with your hand and feed it into the drain4. If it stops then first wiggle it a bit and push at different angles. Take note of the drain you are pushing it through (if you see it) to get the right angle.5. If still stuck then keep the cleaner as far out as you can and feed some extra into the main tub so that there are about 5 inches of the metal cleaner coming from the drain (else just keep pushing it through until it stops again or you got far enough that you think that you may have pushed the clog out)6. Turn the setscrew so that it bites down on the cleaner. Put your dominant hand on the handle and then turn the handle clockwise with your non-dominant hand and push so that it writhes around the drain. If too much slack then it won't work, so if you think that may be the case then adjust.7. Once it moved through the clog or bend then unscrew the setscrew and push it all around that area, rotating it here and there and then bring it back. If it ever gets stuck then just make sure that you keep calm and don't pull too hard. Just reasonably pull on it and rotate it counter-clockwise for a while, pushing it back and forth and wiggling it periodically (you might have hooked what you wanted!).8. If it was just a bend or you just pushed the clog a bit then you won't see anything on the cleaner end (take note of where the bend is).9. Repeat the process until you think that you might have got it. Then put the sink plug or what-have-you back in and then test it out.Just make sure that you are patient during the process. It isn't as easy as in most Youtube videos, where they just stick the thing in and then pull it out and say "its good now". You might end up fighting it for an hour. I took off a star because I wish the handle was a bit better.(side note: the color of the handle is black and is plastic. The end piece near the setscrew is also black and plastic. This does not affect the functionality)

So I am giving it three stars because it does work. I bought this auger thinking I would keep it and use it any time a drain was blocked. I ordered this on October 8 and just now opened the box to use it on November 26. I should have used it within the return window. After I used it one time (instructions and explanations are sorely lacking) it is completely rusted by the next morning. You would think that something that is guaranteed to get wet with use and nearly impossible to properly dry would be coated with something to keep it from rusting. Not so. Anyway, in my particular case, I had to use it over and over and over to get the kitchen sink drain unclogged. The first day I used it it blocked the sink up worse. I tried it again the next day, this time using it differently, and it went in further and accomplished something. The other thing that I was not pleased with is that the coil is not attached to the inside anywhere. Was it originally? I don't know. But as you are using it in the drain the entire coil come completely out. It isn't easy to get it back in and it can flip out and hit you. I don't know enough about plumbing, maybe a 25 foot coil is as long as it gets for plumbing reasons, but I think a coil that was maybe 5 foot longer would have been more helpful. The best thing about this drain auger (and also, paradoxically, the reason it rusts within hours of first use) is that the water from the coil collects inside the auger itself. It is less messy that way. But then it is impossible to clean AND dry the inside of it out, hence the rust.