The long, thin strip of plastic with tiny barbs unclogged a slow moving drain that hadn't responded to bleach, washing soda or boiling water. Pushing it down a sink drain, it nabbed the offending twine of hair and, within seconds, the drain was clear again.

This $2 product was invented by Gene Luoma of Duluth, Minn., who faced a clogged drain one day and, determined not to use any rough chemicals, looked around for another option. He noticed his daughter's old, thin, plastic sled had a tear down the center that was rather jagged.

"That'll work," he said. He cut a long strip of plastic from the shed, cut additional barbs into it and pushed it into the drain. The Zip-It was born.

Luoma produced a prototype and enlisted his nephew, marketing consultant Dan Stocke, to help him sell it.

"I took them to local hardware stores. At one, I had a group of people surrounding me. The manager said, 'These are great'. . . I told Gene the story and I said 'This is bigger than you think,' " Stocke said.

From there Stocke took the Zip-It into production for Menard's, a regional hardware retailer in the Midwest, where it caught the eye of Cobra Products Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of drain snakes.

"They had to have it," Stocke said.

The Zip-It Web site at www.zipitclean.com illustrates where liquid drain cleaners land in the trap and shows how most clogs usually occur at the stopper mechanism. Stocke has also put in some solid advice on keeping drains running free and how to handle clogs that go beyond the length of the Zip-It.

The Zip-It should be available through local Ace Hardware stores as well as Wal-Mart and Home Depot or go to the Web site for a list of retailers.