Inside: How to clean your clogged shower drain of hair.
If there is someone living in your home with long hair, chances are you’ll experience a clogged drain at some point. Every time you wash your hair, stands will come loose and make their way down the drain. But it isn’t just long hair that can cause an issue – if you aren’t regularly flushing your pipes with boiling water then all hair can cause a problem eventually. Blockages can cause a stink and slow drainage – not what you need for your morning shower!
A simple way to unclog your shower drain is to pour baking soda into the drain, leave it for a couple of minutes and then pour a cup of white vinegar down the drain on top of it. Combined, they will fizz up and begin to dissolve the blockage. After a few hours, rinse the drain with water and the blockage should flush away.
Of course, this doesn’t always do the trick if you have stubborn clogs and you might need to try some other effective methods. Let’s look at the options available to you.
Signs you have a drain blockage
Sometimes you can have a blockage developing without you even realising it. It is only when it becomes a large blockage that you start to notice a few things, such as:
- Smelly drains. Does the bathroom stink? Bacteria forming on the material blocking the drain can start to cause a bad smell – especially in warmer weather.
- Slow shower drain. Do you get standing water around your feet? Does it take ages to drain away?
Types of hair that cause blockages
- Long hair. The most well-known because it is clear to see that long hair will clump together and form balls.
- Bear hair. Not so obvious but over time, those little shavings from daily trims can stick to the soap scum and mineral deposits in the pipes and reduce the capacity for flow.
- Pet hair. Anyone with pets know how much they shed and all that hair will clump and stick to the pipes, eventually causing an issue.
Removing blockages from drains
The first thing to do is to assess the type of clog facing you. Can you see the hair? How much is there? Does the water flow down at all or is it completely blocked? Depending on the state of the drains, you may be able to use a quick fix or you may have to use a bit more force to get the job done.
Manual removal
Sometimes, although quite disgusting, the best way to remove the hair is to pull it out manually. The blockage isn’t necessarily always too far into the pipework and so you can usually grab a bit of hair and keep pulling. If you can’t see any hair, you can always use a wire hanger to delve in a bit deeper and hook onto a clump.
Most of the time, all of the hair has congealed together and so once you have a hold of some you can get the whole lot out in one go.
If you find you can’t see any and you think the clog has been pushed further down, a wire coat hanger won’t be good enough to get the job done. What you need is a drain snake (also known as a drain claw) – a long metal rod that can be placed inside the bathroom drain and pushed towards the blockage. It has a spiral end that embeds itself into the material causing the block, meaning when you pull the wire back out again it brings the material with it.
Boiling water
The reason hair gets stuck in your drains and pipework is because the the grease, soap scum and mineral build-up that coats the inside of the pipes. As hair enters the pipework it can get caught and then over time it collects more and more to form a blockage.
Sometimes, all you need is to flush the pipes with hot water and this will melt away the grease and grime, freeing the hair from the pipes to move along the system.
Plunger
Do you have a plunger? A toilet plunger is a great tool for pushing deep blockages through and out into the waste pipe.
Fill the shower with a little water so that the plunger itself is submerged. Place the rubber cup securely over the drain and start to push – each time you push downwards the pressure increases and pushes the water towards the blockage. Eventually, the surges in water will push against the hair clog and it will break free and move down the pipe.
Baking soda & vinegar
If you don’t want to use harsh chemicals, then a simple and natural method to loosen the greasy hairballs in the drain is to use baking soda and white vinegar.
All you need is:
1 cup baking soda
1 cup white vinegar
Pour the baking powder down the drain, leave for a couple of minutes and then pour the cup of vinegar down. It will bubble and fizz and push the baking powder further down the drain to meet the blockage.
After a couple of hours (or over night if you can) pour some boiling water down the drain. The blockage should have had the soap scum / grease dissolved by the vinegar solution and so should flush away to leave you with clear pipes.
Chemicals
There are some blockages that need a bit more power to clear them and so you may have to turn to chemicals to dissolve the mass of hair. Of course, this isn’t environmentally friendly and can cause issues with your pipes so should only be used where necessary.
There are various liquid drain cleaners available and you can pick them up from your local hardware store. We have tried many products over the years but the only thing to have done the job successfully has been this Heavy Duty Liquid Drain Opener due to the caustic soda – the chemical reaction melts away the hair and soap scum!
Simply pour some of the solution down the drain, leave overnight and then flush away with some hot water. Your pipes will be clear and water will run freely once again.
Note: Wear rubber gloves and make sure the room is ventilated. You also need to make sure you read the instructions carefully to be sure of the timeframe to leave it – especially if you have pvc pipes.
Plumber
The last resort would be to call a plumber if you have tried everything else and not been successful. They will be able to open up the pipework to diagnose the issue and use commercial drain cleaners to clear clogs for you.
If the problem is severe they may suggest Hydro-jetting as an option. The machine fires concentrated water jets into the pipes and can flush away years of build-up to leave them like new.
Preventing blockages in the future
- The best thing to do is to stop future hair clogs happening in the first place by using a cover on top of the drain. A shower drain cover collects the hair and then can be lifted out and emptied at the end of each shower or as and when needed. Incidentally, using a drain protector on all plug holes in the home is good practice to stop debris from entering the pipework.
- Another top tip is to use a hair brush to brush your hair in the shower – collecting the hair in the bristles before it even makes it to the drain.
- Regularly pour boiling water down the drains in your home to flush away any build-up of grease and grime that might collect hair.
Hopefully these tips will help you to clear your smelly shower drain and show you what you need to do to prevent any further build up.