8 Major Drain Cleaner Brands Ranked Worst To Best

Are you battling a stubborn drain clog? Whether you started noticing a bad odor or found yourself standing in water during your morning shower, clogs can be a serious inconvenience. Maybe your kids thought it would be fun to sneak some foreign object down the sink. Or perhaps your partner made a serious miscalculation by rinsing liquid meat fat or small produce stickers down the sink that immediately created a clump in your pipes. More often, your drain clogs are made of a mixture of hair, soap scum, and organic debris that has solidified over time. Shop vacs and wire hangers are among the unexpected items around your house that can help unclog your drain. But when you've got a clog that's seriously stuck and calling a plumber is out of your budget, it's important to know which drain cleaner brands work every time and which ones you should leave on the shelf.

To find out, we researched every major drain cleaner brand on the market. Like Chapstick, Kleenex, or Band-Aid, you've undoubtedly heard of the best drain cleaner brand: Drano. Drano doesn't just manufacture the top-rated clog removal products on the market. It's also a catchall word that's casually used to describe other drain cleaners that made our list. After creating a master list of all drain cleaner brands, we read through countless real customer reviews and discussion boards and did our own ingredient comparison to rank each brand from worst to best. Nothing on our list is a total dud, but there are certain brands reviewers reach for before others, including Green Gobbler, ZEP, and Instant Power.

Less than half of all reviewers recommend Eco Punch Drain Cleaner, which is sold in 32-ounce bottles at Lowe's for $12. Although it purports to break down hair, liquify soap scum, and dissolve paper products, many users called this drain cleaner a waste of money after experiencing no difference in their drain clogs even after using an entire bottle. Still, it eked onto our list because several other reviewers said that multiple applications left for up to an hour in slow-moving sinks and tubs worked wonders on their clogs, especially when rinsed with very hot water.

Enz-Act Enzyme Drain Cleaner is a concentrated formula sold at Home Depot for $44 a gallon. A commercial product used in restaurants and hospitals, this drain cleaner is mainly intended for breaking down food waste and bodily fluids thanks to its bacteria strains and disinfecting chlorine ingredients. Many reviewers like the fresh smell, but others say it doesn't work well on thicker clogs that contain typical household clog debris like hair or calcium buildup. In those cases, some users said clearing your pipes with a drain snake you already have in the house may be more effective.

ZEP makes a variety of drain cleaner products, from drain-opening gels to pipe buildup removers. With formulations ranging from enzymatic powders to sulfuric acid, citrus solvent to odorless bacteria additives, there is a range of ZEP brand products for various drains, septic tanks, and leach lines. The brand's highest-rated product is the ZEP 1 Gal. Liquid Heat Gel Industrial Drain Opener. Sold at Home Depot for $15 per gallon, nearly 1,000 reviewers gave it a five-star rating. Users described it as effective against both hair and grease clogs. ZEP says to run hot water before and after use for the best results.

A less familiar brand than some others on our list, Pequa is a family-run business that manufactures non-acid products for pipes, cesspools, septic tanks, and leach fields. The company claims its Heavy Duty Drain Opener is "at least 8 times stronger than nationally advertised brands." A half-gallon of the non-polluting formula is sold at Home Depot for $15. Although it's popular with reviewers who appreciate that the eco-friendly formulation works well on particularly stubborn clogs, like most other commercial drain cleaners, this product contains hazardous chemicals that should be handled very carefully.

Instant Power makes a variety of drain-opening products, including foaming disposal packs and a crystal lye formulation that cuts through sludge. But the Instant Power Hair and Grease Drain Opener is the true fan favorite, with close to 10,000 Home Depot customers leaving it a five-star rating. Sold in two-liter bottles for $14, users think the product is a very good value given how effective it is, especially when left overnight. Several people did caution that you should wear protective eyewear to avoid irritation while using this product to unclog your drain.

By now, you've probably heard of Green Gobbler, Amazon's best-selling commercial drain opener brand. With several drain cleaning products to choose from, over 20,000 customers have given the company's bleach-free and septic-safe Green Gobbler Liquid Hair Drain Clog Remover & Cleaner a five-star rating. Unlike some others on our list, Green Gobbler doesn't contain any bleach or lye ingredients, which is part of why their formulations are odorless and safe for any household pipe material. The same goes for their highly rated Green Gobbler Drain-Opening Powder Packs. You can get either popular product for under $25 from Amazon.

Whether your clog is located in the bathroom sink or kitchen disposal, there's a Liquid-Plumr drain cleaner for your specific situation. From an Urgent Clear formula that clears clogs in a matter of minutes to the Industrial Strength Gel that comes in large containers for those occasions when you've flushed a lot of the wrong things down your drain, Liquid-Plumr is one of the best drain cleaner brands out there. Reviewers say the brand's most highly rated product, a Liquid-Plumr Pro-Strength Hair Eliminator Gel Clog Remover that costs under $8 from Amazon, works just as well as a plumbing snake and is much cheaper than calling a plumber.

You may have heard that some plumbers warn you to avoid Drano in your pipes. Whether this is because the lye-based product works so well, the pros are worried it will put them out of business, or because its corrosive formula that cuts through anything in its path can be rough on PVC and porcelain finishes if not used as directed is up for debate. But close to 50,000 reviewers have given the brand's top-selling product, Drano Max Gel, a five-star rating because it just works. Sold in a two-pack on Amazon, it's also an extremely cost-effective choice, ringing in at $0.10 per ounce.