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The indoor kitchen sink is such a great invention. We can’t even imagine what life must have been like when everyone had to go out and pump water from a well or bring it up from a creek in order to do the dishes or put on a pot of water to boil. But when your sink stinks, things can get frustrating quickly. If you’ve tried dumping baking soda and lemon juice down there, cleaned it the best you can, and still can’t seem to get rid of the smell, you’ll be interested in our Sani Sticks review.
What’s Causing the Stink?
There are two possible reasons for bad smells in your drains. The first possible culprit is sewer gas that’s leaking back through the pipes and up your drains. This sometimes happens when a sink wasn’t made with a proper trap to block the smell or if the existing trap gets a leak. In either of these situations, you’ll need to call a plumber.
The other possible reason for smells is something you can take care of yourself, and this Sani Sticks review is here to explain how. These smells come from rotten food, grease, and oil that’s gotten trapped in the drain over time.
This is especially an issue if you have a garbage disposal. There are several possibilities for cleaning out these drains; are Sani Sticks the best? Let’s find out.
What Are Sani Sticks?
You may have seen Sani Sticks advertised on TV. They are simply thin sticks in various colors and scents that you stick down your drain for instant relief to your smelly drains. They work on smells right from the beginning and they help prevent clogs; but they aren’t really meant to break up an already existing clog if it’s bad. If your sink is badly clogged and not draining at all, then deal with the clog first and then use Sani Sticks to keep it from happening again. If your sink isn’t fully clogged but is starting to drain slowly, give Sani Sticks a try.
Sani Sticks Review: Product Specs
Sani Sticks Drain Cleaner and Deodorizer
- SMART CLEANING: Sani Sticks cleaner, deodorizer and clog preventer are a powerful, safe and efficient way to eliminate embarrassing, foul odors from drains and helps to prevent clog backups in sinks and showers.
- ONE STICK IS ALL IT TAKES: Made with powerful, natural enzymes, each Sani Stick slowly releases a super concentrated blend of powerful enzymes that will eliminate organic deposits and grease build up for 30 days.
- INNOVATIVE DESIGN: Sani Sticks drain deodorizer and cleaners are thin, cylindrical and only 6.3 inches long making them ideal for homes and businesses.
- SAFE TO USE ANYWHERE: Because these odor eliminating drain sticks are non-toxic and use enzymes to clean, they are safe to use in all drains from the bathroom to the kitchen.
- MONEY SAVER: Avoid embarrassing smells and nasty water build up all while saving time and money.
As we read over many Sani Sticks reviews, it immediately became obvious that these things do indeed work for most people. But we wanted to know exactly how they work.
Sani Sticks are made up of natural enzymes that break down oil, food, and hair over time. Unlike enzymatic cleaners that are meant to be used when you discover a big clog, these are slow-release enzymes meant to clear smaller clogs that have already begun and then stop any more clogs from forming in the first place.
You use a Sani Stick in each of your drains once a month; in fact, the packages come with convenient markings for each month of the year. One package will do one drain for twelve months, so you need to buy a package for each drain you have that you want protected for the year.
Put the Sani Stick down the drain once a month and just leave it. It will break down grease, hair, soap scum, and food garbage so that you don’t have to worry about clogs forming. Sani Sticks are safe for septic tanks and won’t hurt your plumbing.
Pricing
One of the best things about Sani Sticks, and the competition, is that keeping your drains smelling sweet doesn’t have to cost much. You can get a bundle of packs that adds up to 48 Sani Sticks for around $14. Some of the brands we looked at in our Sani Sticks review were even cheaper. The most expensive solution we reviewed was still only about $22 for 20 uses.
How It Compares
Sani Sticks was the first stick or strip-type cleaner on the market and is still a popular choice. We thought we’d compare it to a couple other strips and one non-strip cleaner that all claim to do the same job. In addition to the Sani Sticks, we looked at these options:
- Green Gobbler Drain Strips
- Remelos Drain Sticks
- Glisten Foaming Cleaner
Sani Sticks
This might be the easiest thing you’ll ever use. Simply put one stick down your drain once a month and forget about it. In fact, this would have been five stars if it weren’t for one little thing: sometimes the sticks don’t want to go down a shorter drain and you may find yourself needing to break them in half to get them in.
Value for Money
These offer great value for money, if they work for you. They cost only around 30 cents per use, so if you’ve got three sinks to use them on, you’re talking about less than a dollar a month to help prevent clogs and unpleasant smells. The upshot? At this price they’re absolutely worth giving a shot.Sanitizing Results [3 Stars]
User Sani Sticks reviews are all over the place. Some people swear they work just as they’re supposed to. Others claim they did nothing. The sanitizing power of these sticks will depend on how well you manage to get them wedged in and what the problem is that’s causing your stink in the first place.
Green Gobbler Drain Strips
Green Gobbler makes a whole line of products meant to keep your sinks smelling nice and clear of clogs. The drain strips are slow-dissolving but concentrated enzymes that help to break down the matter that causes clogs and stinks.
As with the Sani Sticks, it’s important to remember that these drain strips aren’t designed to break up a bad clog. They’re designed to prevent clogs in the first place. If you’ve already got a clog, use something that will clear your drain and then use Green Gobbler drain strips to keep it from happening again.Price
Ease of Use
As with the Sani Sticks, all you need to do is put one of these down your sinks once a month. As with the Sani Sticks, you might have to break them up to get them down certain drains.
Value for Money
These are slightly more expensive per use than the Sani Sticks, but the difference isn’t huge. You’ll be paying something close to 40 cents per use with Green Gobbler; but if it works for you, that’s still excellent value for money and worth a shot.
Most people are pleased with the results they get from Green Gobbler. They can break up an existing clog if it’s just a minor one, and they do a good job of protecting your sinks. However, it’s important to note that they have no real scent of their own. The Sani Sticks offer a pleasant odor; these simply get rid of the bad ones.
Remelos Drain Sticks
Remelos drain sticks are the only one in our review willing to tell you exactly what’s in their sticks: amylase, protease, lipase, and a non-pathogenic bacteria. The enzymes and bacteria together break down greases and oils, fats, soap scum, and hair.These drain sticks come in several odor choices, including orange and lemon. Otherwise, they work the same way as the two sticks we’ve already reviewed.Price
Ease of Use
These are used in the same way as the Green Gobbler and Sani Sticks. They are slightly smaller, however, which means two things. First, they don’t need to be broken up to fit in most sinks; which is a plus. However, they also don’t seem to work quite as long.
Value for Money
These are the cheapest per use that we found in our Sani Sticks review at between 25 and 30 cents, depending on where you get them. However, they break up a bit faster than other sticks and may need to be used more often than once a month.
Sanitizing Results
Honestly, when we saw the price on these we thought they wouldn’t work as well as the Sani Sticks. They actually work better. Not amazingly better, but slightly better. However, bear in mind that you may need to use these sticks every two weeks, so it’s possible that if you used the Sani Sticks that often you’d see better results, there, too.
Glisten Foaming Cleaner
This is the final item in our Sani Sticks review, and it’s a bit different from the rest: purposefully. If you’re interested in something other than a stick to put down your drain, this might be the right cleaner for you. This is a pre-measured, foaming cleanser with a bleach alternative that you use once a week in your sink and garbage disposal.This is not as environmentally friendly as the sticks, but it is safe for your pipes and septic system.
The main difference between this and the sticks is in what it reaches. All the sticks and strips are passive cleaners, meaning they work as water hits them and washes them around. This one is more active: it foams on purpose so it can reach up, around, and under everything to clean your entire garbage disposal, from blades to splashguard, pipes to sidewalls.
It breaks down anything that’s threatening to clog your pipes, leaves behind a nice lemon scent, and sanitizes the whole mechanism. Just note that this is designed to clean your garbage disposal and not the other sinks of the house. That said, the garbage disposal is usually the one most likely to smell.Price
Ease of Use
This isn’t hard to use in any way, but it’s not quite as simple as the sticks. First you run a stream of hot water down your sink for a minute. Then you place one pack into the drain and turn on the disposal. Once it’s done, you have to rinse the sink. This means a minimum of standing at the sink for two minutes, and it should be done once a week.
Value for Money
Compared with the sticks, you’re paying a lot more for this cleaner. The final cost is around a dollar for each use and nearly $4.40 a month in cleaning just one sink. That said, do remember to balance this with the fact that this cleaning reaches every hidden nook and cranny of your garbage disposal.
Performance is where the Glisten cleaner really shines. It does a brilliant job of eliminating odors, sanitizing, and even extending the life of your garbage disposal. We particularly loved that this product sanitizes your drain, which is something the other products don’t do.
Conclusion
Sani Sticks are the gold standard of drain sanitizing sticks and strips, and we felt they held up in this review. Yes, you can get cheaper, but you have to use the cheaper sticks more often. Yes, the Green Gobbler works just as well; but you don’t get the nice lemony scent (or rose scent, or orange scent) that you do with the Sani Sticks.
We did love the sanitizing quality of the Glisten cleaner, and if you’re concerned about reaching every nook and cranny of your garbage disposal with a sanitizing cleaner, then you should give Glisten a try. However, they wouldn’t be our first choice, partly because of the relatively high cost per use and partly because we’d need another solution to clean the rest of the sinks.
The main question in this Sani Sticks review is whether these little enzymatic cleaners will work for you. Some people haven’t been pleased with the way Sani Sticks worked; however, in most cases there’s a good chance this was because users were trying to make Sani Sticks work in a sink that was already too well clogged. If you’re just looking to break down a minor slowdown in your sink or prevent clogs entirely, Sani Sticks will work well for you. And at the price, they are definitely worth giving a try.
Overall, we think these do what they say and offer an impressive level of value for money. We give them 4.5 out of 5 stars and use them in our own homes.
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