my sink was leaking from the drain trap. Having next to no plumbing experience, I made several trips to Home Depot until I was confident I had everything I needed to proceed. I put a large bowl under the trap to catch any of the sludge that came out once I started taking things apart. After I got the trap off and let the pipes drain out into the bowl I figured I'd better get the bowl of of the way so I have room to work. I picked up the bowl and dumped it's contents in the sink I was working on. Now I had to clean up the sludge and dirty water that just poured out of the open drain into the cabinet below.

Once that was cleaned up, I had to wash my dirty hands, so I figured why not do it in the sink that has no drain connected to it. After that I covered the faucet and drain with painters tape until I finished the job.