How To Clean Bathroom Drain Clogged With Hair

Since leaving college, Paul has worked in a variety of roles, including: painter and decorator, general handyman, and freelance author.

Unclogging your shower drain is not as difficult as you might think. Read on to find out how! — Unclogging your shower bleed is not as difficult as you might call back. Read on to detect out how!

In my experience, information technology is always all-time to avoid the expense of employing a plumber if you mayhap can, and unclogging a shower drain yourself frequently isn't every bit difficult as y'all might believe.

The vast majority of clogged shower drain problems can exist solved by using some fairly elementary and straightforward methods and tools.

In one case you have unclogged the shower drain, you should work on preventing or reducing the chances of it happening once more (see my suggestions at the lesser of the page).

Below are my eight suggested methods for how to articulate a clogged shower drain.

8 Means to Unclog a Shower Drain

Pour boiling water downward the drain.
Use a plunger.
Apply baking soda and vinegar (the natural alternative to chemicals)!
Take the drain cover off and pull out the clog by hand.
Use a claw.
Use a plumbers' snake (also sometimes called a "toilet jack" or an "electric eel").
Use chemicals.
Telephone call a plumber.

I'll go into each of these methods in detail beneath. I have taken into consideration the amount of expense and involvement needed for each approach. I discuss the easiest and cheapest methods first and so explain more than involved and expensive ideas.

The only exception to this lodge is perhaps the chemical selection, which is quick, easy, and affordable, but can cause some impairment to your pipes, specially if washed repeatedly.

In my experience, unclogging a shower drain often requires a combination of more than i of these methods.

i. Pour Boiling H2o Downwardly the Drain

This tin sometimes interruption down the soap or grease that is holding the clog together and clear the blockage.

How to Unclog Your Drain Using Boiling Water

Eddy h2o on the stove.
Pour the boiling water down the drain.
It'south best to apply a funnel or something to contain the water as you pour. If yous have any expense shower or bathtub accessories, you don't want to spill humid h2o on them.

Note: Used on its own, this method may not work, particularly if you are dealing with a serious blockage that contains a lot of matted pilus and has congenital upwards over time. However, it may partially articulate the blockage and work fully when used in conjunction with another method listed beneath.

Pour boiling water down the drain to clear out a clog. — Pour boiling h2o downward the bleed to clear out a clog.

2. Endeavor Using a Plunger

The nature of the blockage, where the clog is in the drain, and the pattern of your drain volition determine how successful plunging volition be. If the clog is deep and made of pilus, for case, you might struggle to get plenty suction for plunging to be effective.

3. Baking Soda and Vinegar (the Natural Alternative to Chemicals)

This is a more than natural solution than using cleaning chemicals.

How to Unclog a Shower Drain Using Baking Soda and Vinegar

Pour a cup of baking soda down the drain.
Wait for a few minutes.
Pour a cup of vinegar downwards the drain also.
Wait for a couple of hours to run into if the hair clog gets dissolved.
Make clean out the drain by pouring boiling water down information technology.

Note: Although this method is ecologically preferable, and won't cause damage to plastic pipes, you may still end upward having to resort to chemicals.

4. Take off the Bleed Embrace and Pull Out the Clog by Paw

This method has a adequately good take chances of success, simply it involves using your hands, and then I advise wearing rubber gloves.

How to Unclog a Shower Drain by Manus

First you need to remove the bleed cover.
Sometimes in that location is a screw in the middle that you lot accept to take out.
Other times you tin pry the drain comprehend off using a screwdriver.
Look inside the drain and locate the clog.
Apply a flashlight, if necessary.
If the clog is within attain, pull it out with your fingers.
If it is not in reach, go to method number 5.

Note: This is a great method for fixing clogs caused past small objects or pilus, only is non very effective at fixing clogs caused by mineral build upwardly. Y'all may notwithstanding demand to utilise chemicals or resort to some other method.

Take off the drain cover and pull out the clog. — Take off the drain embrace and pull out the clog.

5. Employ a Hook

This is 1 of the oldest methods for fixing these bug and has a reasonably high success charge per unit.

How to Unclog Your Shower Drain Using a Hook

If you can't reach the blockage by hand, and so try line-fishing out the clog with a piece of wire.
Improvise a tool with a wire glaze hanger, fashioning a claw at the stop of it.

Note: If you take a clog acquired by mineral buildup, this might not be the all-time method for unclogging your drain.

six. Use a Plumbers' Snake (a.k.a. a "Toilet Jack" or an "Electric Eel")

This is another cheap method for fixing clogs that will not require yous to spend much at all. This method also works more than often than not. It has a fairly high success charge per unit.

How to Unclog Your Shower Drain Using a Plumbers' Snake

Push the snake downwardly the drain until y'all accomplish the clog.
Plow the snake's handle and bring it back up.
Run water to exam the drain and verify that the clog is entirely removed.

Note: Clogs acquired by roots require more than just a plumbers' snake and many clogs will not even crave that this tool is used.

seven. Apply Chemicals

Nigh hardware stores and supermarkets sell stiff chemic cleaners designed to unblock drains. Follow the instructions advisedly.

How to Unclog a Shower Drain Using Chemicals

Follow the directions on the packaging and make sure not to use too much. The amount you employ will vary.
Article of clothing gloves and goggles.
Don't mix your chemicals. This could cause poisonous gas.
Pour chemicals down the drain.

Annotation: Don't resort to chemicals lightly, as they can cause damage to your drainage pipes, peculiarly if you use this method repeatedly. Using chemicals is usually a quick, easy, and affordable method, however. Y'all can minimize their time to come use past fugitive future blockages (come across bottom of folio)!

Chemical Products Used to Ready Clogs


Production	Cost	Online Rating	Poisonous?
Instant Power Hair & Grease Bleed Opener	$10	Four stars	Yeah
Rooto Professional Drain Opener	$10	Four stars	Yes
Drainbo Drain Cleaner	$10	3 1/2 stars	Yep
Clean Earth Earthworm Family Rubber Drain Cleaner	$vi	3 i/2 stars	No (Even so, you'll feel sick if you drink it)
Unique Super Digest-Information technology Safe Drain Opener	$thirteen	Five stars	No (Still, you lot'll get ill if you drink it)

8. Call a Plumber

If you don't want to get-go taking your drain apart and are uneasy almost using chemicals, or they don't work, and then you will have to telephone call out a professional plumber. It's by far the least affordable option and clearly the final resort, if you lot are looking to save on expense.

That said, it is also the to the lowest degree trouble.

What Causes a Bleed to Become Clogged?

A clogged shower drain is usually caused by a clump of knotted hair, dirt, grease, and/or lather. Every bit well as bounden the dodder together, the pilus often wraps effectually parts of the drain and makes the blockage difficult to move.

Clogs occur much more often in homes where one or more of the shower users has long hair, every bit short hair is much less probable to go caught in the drain system.

Less mutual causes of clogs include a mineral buildup in the drain, and the main drainage pipes being compromised past tree roots and/or general decay.

Causes of Chock-full Shower Drains


Cause	How It Happens
Hair	Pilus can bind with grease and other sticky substances to grade clogs.
Dirt	Dirt can build upwardly and cause issues in your drains. Sometimes we wash our tubs or showers without thinking about all of the dirt that'south swirling downwardly the drain.
Mineral Buildup	Minerals dissolved in water can build up and cause insoluble masses that will block your drains.
Soap	Traditional lather confined are made with grease or fat. The fat in the soap combines with minerals in water and leaves a hard remainder that stains bath fittings and clogs pipes.
Tree roots	Small cracks or leaks in your hugger-mugger pipes tin can concenter root growth. Once within your pipes, roots grow larger, obstructing water menses and causing piping damage.

Symptoms of a Chock-full Shower Drain

The first fourth dimension that you lot realize that you lot take a problem is when you observe yourself standing in a deep puddle of h2o in the shower considering the h2o isn't draining equally it should.

Unfortunately, once the drainage problems have begun, they will ordinarily only become worse over time, unless action is taken. More often than not speaking, the sooner that you deal with the problem, the easier it will be to resolve.

How to Prevent Future Clogs

Prevention is ever better than cure, so once you lot've fixed your problem, don't neglect to minimize the chances of your shower bleed getting chock-full again. You should certainly consider buying a bleed protector, if you haven't already got i, to take hold of hair and finish other debris from blocking up the bleed.

A secure lather dish can help also, equally soap contributes to clogs by sticking knots of hair together into larger clumps. (Information technology goes without saying that loose lather sliding around on the floor of the shower tin also cause serious accidents!)

This article is authentic and true to the all-time of the author'due south cognition. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does non substitute for personal counsel or professional person advice in concern, financial, legal, or technical matters.

Questions & Answers

Question: How tin can I fix a very dull draining bathtub?

Respond: If the blockage is not as well serious, you may be able to clear information technology with baking soda and vinegar, which foams upwardly to loosen the clog. Run the water afterward. A commercial liquid drain clog remover can be used instead of baking soda and vinegar. Also, endeavor using a plunger to unclog the drain. If you nonetheless can't articulate the blockage, and so you should effort using a plumber'southward serpent. Remove the drain cover, or the overflow panel, to gain access for the serpent. Push the serpent down until you striking the clog, then push and pull the snake vigorously - or plow it on if it'south electric - until the blockage is cleared. Replace the drain cover later and run the water to rinse abroad any remainders of the clog.

Question: Must information technology be white vinegar instead of "brownish" vinegar that will unclog a shower bleed?

Answer: It is the acerb acid content of the vinegar that matters, this is what determines how well the vinegar will work to unclog a drain, merely nigh types of vinegar should work.

Question: What if in that location is blackness stuff is coming out of the drain?

Answer: Information technology'south possible that your whole drainage system is backing up, and that it is raw sewerage that you're seeing. Y'all should be able to tell from the smell. Another sign of this is when multiple drains and toilets in the building are no longer draining or flushing properly. This will be a job for a professional plumber, if and so, as there are serious health hazards as well equally plumbing issues involved.

Question: I have a irksome shower drain what tin I do?

Reply: Offset of all, if all your drains and toilets are backing upwards, then the problem will almost certainly require calling a plumber, equally the problem is more serious than just one tedious drain. If information technology is just the 1 shower drain, then the easiest thing to endeavor offset is to use a plunger to dislodge the blockage. You tin can also use a commercial bleed clearer to deliquesce the clog, although these chemicals can as well damage your pipes if used regularly. A more natural alternative is to try baking soda and vinegar to articulate the blockage. If those methods don't piece of work, so remove the bleed cover and see if you lot can visually identify the clog. Maybe yous can fish it out with your (gloved) hand or with a hook (you tin make i from an onetime coat hanger). If you are still struggling so the adjacent phase is using a plumber'south serpent. If that doesn't work, so you volition have to call a plumber. Nearly clogs in shower drains are caused by a build up of pilus and soap, and so will but go worse if not dealt with.

DLLAKIN on May sixteen, 2022:

Finally got shower bleed fixed with your method of soda, vinegar and very hot h2o. Firm is 50 years quondam, shower on second floor. This worked like a charm after 2 other attempts. Thanks for such not bad directions and precautions suggested. Gloves, glasses etc are good idea. Long process, merely worked.

Vittorio on October 18, 2022:

My shower drain was clogged, I used boiling water and now it is stock-still. Thank you Paul.

Rainbow640 on Oct 09, 2022:

I tried this on my drain and it worked. I first used a plunger then I used a hanger and information technology pulled out a bunch of hair. Now my shower is working perfectly.

Bottom4HngTop on September 17, 2022:

The house we bought was custom built.. Super rich guy owned information technology. We bought it from original owner and agent told united states of america 1 of the bug was a boring draining tub downstairs, we laughed information technology off and idea nothing of information technology. Years into owning later trying EVERYTHING, we didn't think it was funny anymore. We finally chosen a plumber, he tried the auger/snake merely information technology didn't piece of work. He went into his truck and had an iPad and a long cable. He connected the cable and iPad and it was a camera!! He inserted the camera and way within he plant a piece of concrete, nevertheless that device program worked he knew where the blockage was and spraypainted an "Ten" where the repairman should dig. Next day we had a repair guy come and excavated the concrete, cutting out the section the previous guy sprayed and was shocked at what we found. Afterwards we sprayed the nasty AF sh!t off, bring said "F*CK Y0U" spray painted on information technology. My dad was an electrician at the time merely worked for a big company. He asked around if anyone knew who did the electric on that house, he found out and questioned the electrician about the guy who did the pipe work throughout the house. Turns out the dude who was on that task was working for free cause he couldn't pay back a 3000 loan. LOL The rich guy's wife validated that yes he did owe her married man money. Her husband currently passed abroad which was why she was downsizing, After that she never saw him or heard from him once more.

Daniel RS on July 17, 2022:

What they suggested eight thing to do is all wrong, costly and hard piece of work!

I have ane piece of cake gear up for shower and sink drains. Only, i promised my plumber not to say because he would loose plenty of concern.

Lily on June 12, 2022:

I accept boring shower bleed in my Make NEW house! I beleive it could exist my hair, since I have alot of it, and its waist length.... all the same one of my issues or prpblems is that I do not know how to remove the stopper. No matter which way I plough it I can't pull information technology out. I would post a picture but that option is not available here.

Any suggestions?

Kim on December 01, 2022:

Cheers! My bleed was blocked this morning and I was most to start plans to get a plumber in as shortly as weekend was over. And so I poured boiling water downwards and sorted of poked around a bit and the water build upwardly slipped down through the pipes immediately. Am also keeping in mind what you suggest by way of factors that cause it in the outset place. Hair clumps well-nigh likely culprit!

joethehoehandyman on September 12, 2022:

this commodity helped me save my family money not having a plumber come to service our shower drain i followed the steps and stock-still my drain thoroughly, thanks

Georgia on March 06, 2022:

The plunger method has always worked for me. Just fill the tub a few inches with the hottest h2o you tin and then showtime plunging. I have lots of thick hair and then I actually have to do this quite regularly. My male parent used to buy an aerisolized tin affair simply we discovered that the plunger unremarkably works merely as well.

Diana on March 01, 2022:

my embrace doesn't come up off...it'south glued in. Whatever other recommendations?

Lester on January 16, 2022:

Success! We poured humid water into the shower drain first, waited 10 minutes, put in the baking soda and vinegar, waited 2 hours, more boiling h2o, then snaked the drain. Ewww...it looked like nosotros pulled a small animal out of the drain, nosotros got so much stuff out! Now I need to find a drain protector so it doesn't build up again.

kay on December 06, 2022:

I have used the baking soda and vinegar philharmonic a lot for a clogged toilet. Tried the shower drain with little success. 2nd round, I placed a cup on top to trap the bubbles working. Success! When I poured boiling water in, it went straight down instead of washing upwardly goo. Hurray! Hope the hair clog makes it out of our disintegrating clay pipes under the basement!

Matt on October 01, 2022:

Baking soda and vinegar neutralize each other to class water and a common salt. The bubbling may look like cleaning is going on but all that'due south happening is carbon dioxide is released. using vinegar or baking soda separately will work better in about all cases for cleaning.

Clark on Baronial 24, 2022:

The communication here is good. Simply for the record, baking soda and vinegar are both chemicals.

Fred on July 29, 2022:

Thank you so much for your advice. Our bathroom sink drains cleared with baking soda and vinegar! Yippee! A big cheers!!

yessica on July 25, 2022:

My parents have a cloged drain in the shower it has been similar that for iv years now the landlord has tried but could not fix it. With the plunger it seems to slowly become down but information technology takes alot of fourth dimension do .my parents they usually scoop out the water with buckets. Tin can anything be done or would they have to excavate the pipes

Science teacher on April 05, 2022:

Blistering soda isn't a chemical? It's besides known as sodium bicarbonate or NaHCO3. What well-nigh vinegar? Or should I say Acerb acrid, aka CH3COOH.

Mary on April 01, 2022:

Thanks for the groovy advice.

Chichi on February 23, 2022:

Your pieces was certain a squeamish one. Well done.

Chichi on February 21, 2022:

Thank you. I at present know the symptoms of chock-full shower bleed and how to prevent them. That was a niece piece.

aynsley on November 18, 2022:

Is it normal when yous use a serpent in the shower stall drain that the snake comes back up through the bathroom bleed or does it mean I have a real problem. Help.

Brent on September 07, 2022:

What if the cliff isn't hair, grease, or soap. What if it's a cap from a tin can of hairspray?

jamar on September 02, 2022:

This was very helpful

John Devis on July 27, 2022:

Thanks for sharing this mail service. I really liked the point number 3 in the above post as combination of Baking Soda and Vinegar can be a very powerful alternative to chemicals.

jougy55@yahoo.com on Dec 18, 2022:

someone suggested using acid? seems similar it could cause problems with the piping!!

Susette Horspool from Pasadena CA on Baronial 19, 2022:

I've ofttimes used a plunger, just never thought about pouring boiling water downward the drain showtime. I'll accept to try that. I've also never plunged underwater - didn't know that creates a better seal. And then I have 2 things to effort. My concluding solution? Call the flat manager for our repair guy to come (lol).

Mel on January 27, 2022:

Thank you for your advice, it worked perfectly yay!! No more than turning off the water halfway through a shower for fear of flooding!! THANKS :)

Source: https://dengarden.com/cleaning/How-to-clear-a-clogged-shower-drain-8-methods-to-try

Posted by: belfordblince.blogspot.com