Since mineral build-up, scum, soap, hair and other debris are unavoidable realities in your bathroom; you need to know how to unclog a shower drain whenever it seems clogged. You can easily notice when your shower drain gets clogged since water will go down more slowly without the standard speed. In severe cases, water won’t flow down the shower drain, but you don’t need to wait until this moment.
Is it possible to permanently avoid clogs in your shower drain? Unfortunately, not really! Clogs will always build up so long as you use the bathroom. The most important thing to know is how to unclog a shower drain.
Do you clean your bathroom regularly? Do you clean all the corners of your bathroom adequately? To remove the clogs, you will need to perform a unique cleaning in your bathroom. Such form of cleaning ought to be performed regularly to wipe out any dirt that accumulates within some days.
Today, I will present you some five actionable ways that can help you know how to unclog a shower drain quite easily. Here we get started!
Contents
How to Unclog Shower Drain with Baking Soda
In readiness to use this method, ensure that there is no soapy water around the drain area. Ensure all the soapy water around this area is entirely emptied. You are only seeking how to dissolve hair in shower drain without facing interference of the soapy water solution. Remove the rubber stopper on your shower drain opening.
While ensuring that the drain area does not have any soapy water, boil some water and pour it down the drain when it has boiled. Follow this with a full cup of baking soda in the drain area. Sorry, I did not tell you that you will require white distilled vinegar! Use the same cup and measure half white distilled vinegar; pour it down the same shower drain.
Place the rubber stopper back to its position and allow the reaction underneath for the next 45 minutes. Meanwhile, boil plenty of water. After the lapse of the 45 minutes, remove the rubber stopper and pour down the boiling water. At this moment, you should be able to clear the clog. That is how to unclog shower drain with baking soda.
In case there are some hair particles that did not dissolve, the last method that I will recommend here will be the most effective.
How to Unclog Shower Drain with Snake
Another most effective means of unclogging a shower drain is the use of snake. You need to have the plumber’s snake to use this method. Having the snake at your hands, it is time now you learn how to unclog shower drain with a snake.
Start by removing the rubber stopper; next, insert the plumber’s snake down the shower drain. Push the snake down the drain and only slow when you find some resistance inside the shower drain. At that moment, start turning the crank in either clockwise or anticlockwise direction; any will work well.
After some moments of turning the crank, pull out the snake and you will realize that it has trapped a lot of clogs, which might include hair, scum, and other mineral build-ups. Dispose of the dirt in your bin and keep repeating the process until the shower drain is cleared.
Are you still asking yourself how to unclog a shower drain with standing water? As you can see the working of the plumber’s snake method, you can be able to use to unclog a shower drain that has standing water. Before you start, don’t forget to remove the drain stopper.
By Use of Bleach
If you know how to unclog a shower drain with bleach, the entire work will be quite easy to you. One important thing you need to know about how to unclog a shower drain with bleach is that this method deodorizes the shower drain.
Also, you need to realize that it is not possible to rely on bleach alone to dissolve the hair down your shower drain; this method works best when combined with other methods such as hot water, baking soda, and vinegar. Just start with an almost full cup of bleach, pour it down the drain and then follow the rest of the procedure with the baking soda solution we have discussed above.
By Use of a Plunger
The use of plunger can still be applicable when the shower drain has some standing water. Before you start using this method, ensure that the area around the drain has some water pool. In this case, you might not need to remove the drain stopper.
You will use the plunger to create a huge pressure that will drive the debris down the shower drain. To build the pressure, you are supposed to move down and up the drain several moments. Ensure that the entire drain opening is entirely covered by the plunger’s head.
After some moment, turn on your water to see if there is some steady flow. The method works faster if you apply adequate pressure. If water is still flowing too slowly, repeat the same procedure until the drain is clear.
By Use of Wire Hanger
In the use of this method, you need to find a wire hanger and loosen it until it looks a modified version of what you want to use. To achieve this, you can use a pair of pliers. Construct a small hook at the one end of the straightened wire hanger.
You will use the hook to remove hair and other debris from inside the shower drain. Unlike the use of plunger which further pushed the debris down the shower drain; this method will help you to pull out the dirt. It works using the same principle as the plumber’s snake even though the working is a bit different.
If you used the baking soda solution method and you could not dissolve hair in the shower drain, this method will help you to pull out the remaining hair. To use this method, insert the hook down the drain and catch the hair, then pull it out. Keep repeating the process until you can no longer remove any hair.
Conclusion
In summary, you don’t need to worry about how to unclog a shower drain since I have provided you with plenty of alternatives. Perhaps, the use of baking soda solution can be effective to you; if not, you can make the use of a plunger, snake, wire hanger, or bleach. Anyone of these methods should be effective to clear the clog in your shower drain.