Body and soap oil build up on the inside of the pipes, we tried and it worked as well. We boiled a big pot of water, carefully we took it to the shower and poured it down the drain slow but steady as to fill the drain, we repeated this twice and no more clog! Good luck. Also if you can get the plate off of the drain you can use a straightened out coat hanger with a slight "hook" on the end and "chewed up" with wire cutters to grab the loose, balled hair in the drain.
Simply insert the hanger into the drain after you have done the first bucket of hot water, slide the hanger in as far as possible and slightly turn into a circle to catch any loose hair in the drain followed by the second bucket of hot water. You can also use to boil it out is 4 cups of vinegar with 1 cup of baking soda. Pour the soda down the drain and follow with the vinegar, it will boil and bubble clearing out built up oils and soap residue, this will also help sweeten the drain as well!
My dad suggested I use a plunger (like the kind you use for the toilet). It took me a while and I had to really get aggresive with the plunges, but it eventually freed it up. Good luck.
This is a cheap and natural way to unclog a drain-Pour a half cup of baking soda down the drain, then follow with a half cup of white vinegar. Cover the drain and let this sit for several minutes. Then pour a cup of boiling hot water down the drain. This should clear the clog. Flush the drain again for a minute or two to ensure it's clear.
Take the drain strainer off and use a hook fashioned from a coat hanger or wire to reach down in and drag out all the hair and gunk, then put the strainer back on. Bobdog
Hi, there is a acid that you can get from the hardware store. Please do not let it touch your skin, it will seriously hurt you.It is on the drain cleaner isle. I believe is cost $6-7.00. Follow the instructions fully. You have to let it sit for 5-10 min. Hope that this helps, Crystal
Login using the form on the top of the page to post feedback (if you are a registered user). If you have not yet registered, click here to do so. It's FREE!.
Archives:
Request: Unclogging a Shower Drain
Archived on 09/01/2009
How can I unclog a drain that has built up shampoo and soap, without calling a plumber?
Connie from Columbia, SC
Feedback:
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
Gee, this question pops up almost every day. Take the stopper out and clean it and the pipe which it came out of. It is a very easy thing to do. If you want step by step directions, buy this months issue of Handyman at your local book store. (10/30/2008)
By Harry
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
Pouring baking soda followed by vinegar worked! I poured about a cup of Baking Soda down the drain, followed it with vinegar, and it caused a foaming effect. I then poured the boiling hot water down the drain and plunged it a few times. I had to repeat the process twice before it worked but it did! (02/01/2009)
The drain in our shower is totally clogged. I have tried Liquid Plumber, Drano, and boiling water. None have helped to unclog it. Any ideas?
Susan from Lake Villa, IL
Answers:
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
How about a bit of prevention for those of you using bleach and chemicals such as Drano. Buy a drain catcher (not sure of correct name) to keep hair from clogging the drain. The drain catcher either sits inside the drain (they come in different diameters) or one that sits on top of the drain. Please don't pour chemicals into the sewage system. Our world is polluted so much already. Thanks. (09/24/2008)
By SuzyQ
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
I agree with SuzyQ! One more thing about using chemicals to unclog a drain beyond the issue of our environment is, especially if it's old piping, you are risking the chemicals eating through the pipes and causing water leak damage and huge repair bills :-(
Simply buy or rent a plumbing snake and make sure you have a hair catcher in the drain from now on. (09/26/2008)
My sink and shower both were clogged and I tried everything. Our shower and sink had the drain cap that can screw off, when I removed it I noticed some hair in the drain. I got a piece of wire, bent the end and started to fish out the hair. What I thought were a few hairs ended up to a huge ball of hair. After a few minutes all the hair was gone and the drains flowed freely (09/26/2008)
Try a plumber's snake. You can get a small one at the hardware store for about 10-20 dollars, and snake the drain. We did this, and all our other drains cleared up too. (09/26/2008)
By denise w
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
Shower drains usually are clogged from hair. Just unscrew the drain cover and stick a long piece of wire down it to get the hair out. In the future, clean the hair off the drain after every shower to avoid having this problem.
I also use baking soda and vinegar in the drain once a month just to keep it clear. (09/27/2008)
How do you unclog a shower drain? We have tried everything and cannot get the water to flow freely.
Ann from Atlanta, GA
Answers:
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
If your shower is with your tub you can remove the stopper apparatus. After several years of use, they get to the point where they don't open properly, thereby leaving the tub "stopped up" all the time. DH took ours out and it works great now. I went to the dollar store and bought a little rubber disc type stopper for the rare occasions when I need to keep water in the tub. (10/30/2008)
My toilets are clogged along with my shower. They are right next to each other and calling a plumber is totally out of the budget. Any ideas to help me unclog? Plunging doesn't do it. Thanks for your feedback.
Alison from Tempe, AZ
Answers:
Answers: Unclogging a Shower Drain
When the drains in our house get sluggish, here's what I do. Pour some baking soda in the drain (about 1/2 cup), then about the same amount of white vinegar. Immediately pour in a couple cups of boiling water, and plunge with the plunger. This will loosen and pull up to the top any thing caught in the drain or pipe. This is especially effective with hair in the tub or shower drain.
By Sandi
Answers:
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
I had a plumber tell me to pour NEAT, NAIR or any other hair removal cream down the drains in my bathroom to unclog them because mostly it's hair that's stuck in the drain. I've been doing this for years now and it works great. I pour it down, let it sit about 30 minutes and then run the tap for about 10 minutes to wash it all away. (05/18/2004)
By Red
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
I use my old toothbrushes to clean my shower drain, the toothbrush collects hair like you would not believe. I use rubber gloves and put the toothbrush in the shower drain and it really pulls out the hair. Then, I keep doing that until I get it all. Works Great! (09/08/2004)
By Diana Dwyer
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
The baking soda and vinegar worked great! It completely unclogged my shower drain. This simple solution will save me a call to the plumber! Thanks a lot! (11/26/2007)
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
Help! My bathtub drain is very very sluggish when I shower. I am standing in lots of water. How do I get rid of all this water? Thanks!
(b)Editor's Note:(/b) Quite often hair collects in the drain and keeps it from draining properly. You can take a wire coat hanger and see if you can pull up any hair, if you get any, keep trying to get more. Then put about 2 TBSP. of baking soda down the drain and follow it with white vinegar until it stops fizzing. Then run hot water down the drain. That can remove the other clogs. (12/20/2007)
You could rent what is called a snake from a big box store or hardware store. It is a wire coiled on to a wheel. You feed the wire down the toilet or drain and it will pick up anything that is clogging the toilet. Most chemicals don't work very well. (09/18/2008)
By Harry
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
Go to your styling salon and ask them about the granulated drain hair dissolver. I have never seen anything like it. You just pour a 1/4 in the drain and turn on the water and it cleans your drain clean as a whistle in a matter of seconds. You then follow that with boiling water to make sure you get all of the cleaner dissolved and washed out of the drain. I house sit for a lady who uses that and I was truly amazed by it the first time I used it. Caution: use rubber gloves. It is toxic. I got a granule under a fingernail and it burned a hole through the fingernail. (09/18/2008)
By Debra
RE: Unclogging a Shower Drain
Just one quick tip: the only brand of plunger to have is called a Master Blaster. The bell is accordioned and it has huge capacity for more water to push with. No substitute, so if you haven't tried to clear it without a Master Blaster, you haven't tried. Well worth going and getting one. Online if you must. (09/18/2008)
I pour about a cup of bleach down the drain, let it sit about 30 minutes, and then flush with water. I do it every month or two, and since I started doing that, I have had no problem with hair clogs in the shower. And I am the mother of two daughters with long hair! (09/18/2008)
I suspect that it is a clog in the toilet that is causing the problem. Usually toilet clogs can be fixed with plunging, as long as it is not something like a Barbie doll down in the toilet. Chemicals are not that effective for toilets. I doubt that hair in the shower is the problem if the toilet is stopped up as well. I have never had this problem, however, I used to have a problem with twin kitchen sinks with a garborator. The garborator sink would get clogged, and plunging was ineffectual because the water just came up in the other sink. Perhaps this is what is happening in your case. Try plunging while you have the shower sealed off with the plug or another plunger. Likely someone will have to hold this down. In your post you said "toilets" so if we are talking about more than one, as well as the shower, the clog is must be well down in the plumbing. I have never used a plumbing snake, but that may be what you need. (09/19/2008)
We had some trouble with our tub drains. The building where we live is old and the stoppers on the tubs had rusted and gotten 25 years of gunk on them. DH took them out, leaving the handle in place. That solved our problem since we only shower anyway. I bought one of the flat rubber stoppers for when my granddaughter comes over. (09/19/2008)
