How do you unclog a bathtub drain that is clogged with hair?
My bathtub has been clogged for maybe a month now, and I know that I should have done something about it one it first started, but I’ve just been lazy and procrastinating. Now, when I take a shower, the water just piles up in the bathtub; it eventually all goes down the drain, but it’s extremely gradual and takes a few minutes.
I know it’s clogged with hair, but I can’t really reach down the drain because my bathtub has this protector thing that sits on top of the drain. It’s kind of like a metal cross, so it divides the top of the drain into 4 sections.
Any advice on how I can unclog the drain?
Try drano, if the pipes arent metal, than use Bleach.
The hair should disolve.
Jim
Use a pair of eyebrow tweezers or a pair of needle nosed plyers to get out as much as you can. Then go to Home Depot and get a container (about $5) of GEL clog remover. Follow the directions to the letter and get out of the bathroom and let it work. Should take no more than 15-30 mins. Then monthly pour 1/2 cup Arm Hammer baking soda and one cup vinegar and leave it for 30 min and then rinse wiht HOT water.
What usually works for me is a metal coat hanger. Just untwist into one long length and then bend a very small hook (Not to big or it will catch on the drain top) and snake it down the drain. It should catch most of the hair!
A lot of products like Liquid Plumber will help the break down of common clogs like hair, and works well if you have standing water in the bottom of the tub.
These products can be bought in grocery stores and hardware stores and are fairly inexpensive.
If that fails I suggest buying a small pipe snake, which can be bought at a hardware store and isn’t very expensive and easy to use. If hair is the problem, the pipe snake will take care of it.
On most drains the cross metal peice you’re talking about can be removed by lifting, and sometimes turning it counter clockwise; and depending on the size of the pipe snake, and the size of the grate, you may not have to remove it at all.
Good luck with the clog.
a toilet plunger after you have poured a cup of vinegar and baking soda down the drain and plenty of HOT water running.. You may see the hair creep through the place where you lift the thingy to keep water in the tub. It takes a lot of strength and if you don’t want to have to do it again try covering the drain with nylon netting when bathing or showering in the future.
My brother and I almost busted our guts laughing when he had to help me unclog the tub once. I had hair down to my waist.
Drano or Liquid Plumber may do the trick, but if they don’t, you’ll need to visit a home improvement store to buy a plumber’s snake. This is a sturdy flexible pipe with a twisty mouth on its end that can be forced into drains and toilets (but not sinks with garbage disposals), wiggled around, and withdrawn, either forcing the clogging material into the larger wastewater pipe or trapping it and withdrawing it.
We’ve got 3 long-haired people in the household, and even though we’re all pretty good about wiping our hair off the drain, we still need the snake 2 or 3 times a year. It paid for itself in no time–especially the first time the toilet in our one-bathroom house clogged on Christmas Eve.
I just answered this question for someone else. Get this little gadget called the Zipit and you’ll be amazed at what comes out. You can get it for like $1.99 and it works better than any liquid product I’ve tried. Here’s the link with the stores that carry it. Also, buy some rubber gloves cuz it’s quite gross when you pull it out. You wont regret using this thing.
I bought a flexible flat plastic strip with teeth in it like a saw. You put it down the drain, twist it around a little, pull it back out and it takes the hair out. Do that about four times, then run the water to see if it fixed the problem. It did mine.
Oh, I bought it at Walmart in the house cleaning section.
William M is talking about the Zipit, like the guy before him. I did Maintenance at a large apartment complex and used the Zipit on tub/shower drains and bathroom sinks very successfully, much faster and safer than Drano, etc. After you get the clog out, buy a little white rubber plastic thing that looks like a hat with small holes in the top that you put over the drain: it lets water out but traps the hair: prevention is worth, etc. By the way: most if not all of those ‘cross’ shaped drain devices should NOT be unscrewed, since they are holding the drainpipe under the tub: disaster will follow. bad advice. Just use the Zipit; they don’t last forever and sometimes look so gross/hard to clean that you might want to throw it away, but if not too gross, can be cleaned and re-used a few times.
Someone already mentioned this and I’ll second it: Zip-It. Drain Cleaner. I buy 3-4 at a time to have on hand because they work so well and they can only be used once. For $2.00, your problem is fixed with NO chemicals.
The Zipit tool that someone else wrote about sure sounds neat…never heard of it before.
You know those long skinny brushes that come with some gravy basters…to clean them….they are fairly narrow and you could push it down the drain, twist and pull up. That might grab some hair…but be careful….don’t drop it down the drain!
Even a bottle brush…if it was narrow…might help.
Once you get the hair to the top of the drain, you can grab wads of it with a big crochet hook.
gere
It is real easy go to Home Depot and rent or buy a snake and plumers putty then if you look between you spicket and the drain you will see the over flow preventer that normally only one screw holding it on take it off and run the snake down it in a twisting acttion then use the plumers putty and make a little ring insert around hole and put back the plate