Hair in the Drain. Ugh.

Updated on December 11, 2010
R.. asks from Cleveland, TN
10 answers

So there are 3 long-haired women in my household all sharing a shower. Naturally our drain gets plugged up with hair. Usually, I would get a crochet hook and pull everything out, but THIS shower has the type of drain that has the stopper attached. (you know, the little metal one that just twists up and down...) and I can't take the darn thing off! Now the shower is so plugged up that by the time I finish my shower, I am standing ankle-deep in water. We have a hair trap, but it doesn't work 100%. I tried using a plunger, which helped a little bit... I also tried the stuff you pour down the drain, which also helped a little bit, but the drain is still mostly plugged. I'm out of ideas! The space between the plug and the drain is too small for a snake or anything like that.

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A.T.

answers from Charlotte on

I had the same problem with the twist stopper. I found out that there is a small screw that holds it in. You can unscrew it and it will twist right out...making it very easy to remove the hair from the drain.

HTH!

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M.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Pour a bottle of Liquid Plumber in, wait about an hour or two then bring up a boiling pan of water to rinse it, a big soup pot or more than 4 cups worth. Not just hot water from the faucet, that doesn't work. Do it a couple times if need be.
Both my girls have very long hair. We live with Liquid Plumber.

I see you already tried that, try again but use really hot water and do it a couple times right after each other before you call a plumber.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from Memphis on

My bathtub used to be like that, and then I realized I could unscrew the stopper and it could come off. Now we don't have the stopper (just use one of those rubber discs when we want to run a bath), and use a hair-catcher thing for showers or when we drain the tub. I'm the only one with long hair in my household, but it works! We'd lived in our house for a few months or perhaps a year, before the drain got plugged with hair; but now we've lived here for 4 years, and it's never gotten stopped up again! (I do occasionally notice that some hair has gotten down the drain and caught on the metal spokes just within the drain [it used to hold the stopper], so I clean that out every few months or so.)

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A.H.

answers from Chicago on

yeah that is gross. :) my husband and I once rented one of our apartments to 3 girls with long hair...and he discovered this cool product that works great...basically it comes in a can and it shoots air strongly down into the pipe, pushing the hair clog down so that the water can run freely again. sorry I don't know the name of it because my husband always takes care of it, but it's around $20, he buys it at our local grocery store, and it works AWESOME. i'm sure you can find something similar in your grocery or hardware store. You should still be able to use it with the type of drain you have.

also it's better for your pipes than using a harsh chemical.

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C.J.

answers from Memphis on

We have the same issue in our household. I pour clorox down the drain every so often and it takes care of the issue. You may need to repeat the clorox a few times with it being built up for a while. This has become a monthly chore for me.
Hope this helps

B.C.

answers from Dallas on

Go to Walmart and get the turbo snake!!!!!! We spent $10 on one and it's the best $10 I have ever spent. Just like the infomercial says, you just stick it in and twist it and the hair comes RIGHT up! Magic!!

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J.F.

answers from Nashville on

We have the same problem with the same type of stopper. You can buy a very skinny thing at Lowes or Home Depot that will fit down the drain and pull the hair up. It is very inexpensive. I would go to Lowes/Home Depot and ask someone to show you the options. This cleared up our problem right away.

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R.B.

answers from Nashville on

There are only two long haired people in our house, but my husband uses too much soap, so they mix in the drain and cause quite a clog. I do two things once a month, usually on the 1st. I bought a Zip-It at Home Depot for about two dollars. It is a thin plastic strip with barbs on it. You just stick it down the drain as far as it will go and then pull it out again. Do it several times until no more hair is coming out. Then I pour white vinegar down the drain, the acid eats away at the soap scum.
Once we had a clog way down in the drain and had tried everything. I was running hot water down our bathroom sink (they are on the same line), but it was just coming up in the tub. I was about to give up and call the plumber. When I went to turn the water off I accidentally switched it to cold and like a miracle the tub began to drain. I think the hot water had made the soap residue all sticky and the cold water solidified it back up so it would go down the drain.

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R.U.

answers from Nashville on

hey, i have the anwser for you. go to the plumming supply store and ask for a bottle of thrift. take it home and fill the drain with the crystals to the top. run some real hot water in a sink near by so you can pour penty down the drain. you will hear it eating away at the drain. that stuff is great. i use it every once in a while to keep thing running good. good luck. R.

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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I'm sure all drains can be accessed O. way or another--there's gotta be a way to get that stopper out--I just hope you don't have to pay a plumber to find out.

Keep at the Liquid Plumr--do several times--let it sit all day & run REALLY hot water after that. Then you can get O. of those strainer things to put over the drain so the hair doesn't get down there is the first place.

Or....there is always the 3 haircut option! lol

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