How to clean hair out of your shower drain is a question that can be asked many times and not always answered in the easiest ways.
The reason behind this is the fact that the bathroom is a place where the cleaning is done with a lot of effort.
That being said, the hair that gets stuck in the drain becomes a problem due to smells and visuals for the people living in the home.
These tips will help you clean the drain and keep your bathroom looking nice and smelling nice in no time!
Ways Without Removing The Hair
If ther hair is clogged quite far down your drains, you can always look at trying to dissolve the build up with cleaning products (Find out Is It Safe To Put Fabuloso In Your Toilet Tank?).
There are many natural mixes you are able to combine to get rid of most of this blockage without having to use tools such as baking soda and vinegar.
If you are using chemicals, you need to be careful with your pipes. You do not want to be putting chemicals down your drains that will break down the materials of your pipes.
Therefore, there are also other manual ways you are able to remove the hair from your drains without having to use chemicals and using tools instead.
Using tools can be better for your drains because they can avoid any leak issues from corrosion because you are using chemicals to remove the hair.
This can be easily avoided by using some of the other options here below!
5 Different Ways To Remove The Hair
The Baking Soda method
You do not always have to use strong chemicals to remove everything in your bathroom and drains.
There are other much more natural options which will do the job significantly better.
The baking soda method with vinegar mixed with boiling water will give you the best results because you won’t see any corrosion on your pipes or anything eating away at them.
There are different brands of chemical cleaners which you should probably avoid if you want to protect your pipes.
One example is a product called Drano. If you use these types of products, you will see them start to nibble away at the material on your pipes because the chemicals are so harsh.
So why is baking soda so effective? The reasons are because it has more beneficial properties.
For example, it will remove and dissolve all of the hair from your drain but also will help with the smell from the build up and other blockages.
You always want to prevent any build up of bacteria as well which the baking soda will also dissolve.
How Does This Work?
There are a few instructions here to help you carry out this method properly for the best results. First, you start off gathering the different equipment you need: both the vinegar and baking soda and your cup.
You need to put a cup of baking soda and a cup of vinegar down the drain and you should start to see some fizzing.
The process of these two elements working to break down the blockage should take up to five minutes.
When you start to hear the fizzing comes to an end, you then need to put boiling hot water down the drain to wash away any excess. All of the broken down and dissolved hair will be washed away and it should leave a fresher smell.
If you find that the blockage has not completely gone when using this method, you might need to repeat it until the blockage is fully dissolved. If it takes more than one or two times, the blockage will be quite bad and has most likely been building up for a long time. Therefore, this is a sign that you need to be keeping an eye on your drains more.
Hair Snake Method
Most of you have probably never heard of this method to remove hair from your drain but it can be very effective.
This is a really quick method using only one tool and will be finished in minutes.
It might not get rid of all the hair immediately, but it will get rid of clumps which will get the water running through again.
With this method, you might also have to use other methods on top of this one to remove the blockages completely.
With the hair snake wthod you just need to put the long stick down the drain and the additional spikes and hoops will collect the hair when it is pulled out.
This is a very simple method but is not the most effective out of them all because you might still have the issue of a bad odor smell from where the build up has been there for a while.
You might need to add that baking soda down the drain to remove any bacteria and smell you might still have!
Removing It Manually
This method all depends on the type of access you have to your drain pipe.
You will be able to use this manual method if you have easy access and are able to get in there yourself.
You need to make sure you are wearing your gloves and you have some tweezers you are able to use for the removal.
There can be some really nasty stuff that can get blocked down your drain and you do not want any of the bacteria touching your skin or fungi.
When going through this specific method, you need to make sure that you can reach the clog/blockage because if you can’t, this method will not be the best for you.
If you are able, you should have a flashlight where you are able to see exactly what you need to remove.
When it is within reach, you need to grasp the clog with the tweezers and pull it out and dispose of it immediately.
As mentioned previously, there can also be a build up of bacteria and fungi that you do not want touching you or being anywhere but the bin.
You need to keep pulling it out until you can see a clear view down the pipe.
If there are bad smells coming from the pipes from the build up, you can also use a bit of vinegar and baking soda to remove that extra smell and bacteria.
Plunging
This is another method where you are using your own hand and a plunger to try and remove the build up.
This type of method is usually used if it is quite a large amount of hair that has built up and needs more force to remove.
Using a plunger will help you loosen everything up in the pipe using force. It can be quite solid over time and that needs to be moved around and eventually removed or flushed.
You need to make sure the plunger is fully submerged and you need to forcefully plunge into the drain until you can start to see everything becoming looser.
When it has been plunged, it should either be easier to grab and dispose of, or is less solid and is able to flush away down the pipe.
When everything is looser, you might be able to now see the main clog or blockage.
At this point, you should be able to either use your hand or tweezers now to pull the blockage out.
The best way to know if you have got it all is very simple. You just need to see whether with the running water going again, it can easily flow through the drain and it is all completed.
Plumbing Snake
This is one of the best ways to unclog the more difficult blockages which has most likely been there for quite a while.
You might not have one of your own but if anyone you know has a plumbing snake they can be very useful.
The snake is placed down the drain until you can feel the clog. You will see that there is a handle on the snake that you need to turn in order to pick up the clog.
Then you can lift the snake back up the pipe to see if you have got it all. These are made for more difficult clogs that are harder, so it should work the first time.
You are able to test this by using the same methods as before, using the running water.
If the water is moving down the drain with ease, this means that it has been unclogged.
If not then you need to repeat the process and maybe think about using another one of these methods if proving too much.
Is There Any Way To Avoid This Build Up Over Time?
Yes, it is important to get rid of the blockage when you notice it is there either through the smell or the water overflow but it is also important to prevent this over time if you can.
Once you have to deal with the problem once, you are more inclined to want to prevent this from happening again.
It is a natural process for your hair to come out in the shower but it doesn’t mean that it all has to go straight down your drain. There are other options you can use such as a hair catcher.
This attached onto your shower drain (Check out How To Get Rid Of Drain Worms In The Shower) allowing the water to pass through but collecting all of the hair which is much easier to dispose of.
It is also a great idea to actually brush your hair to remove any of the shedding before you get into the shower.
This will avoid the amount of hair coming out during your shower. There will always be some, but reducing this will help you quite a bit.
Conclusion
Overall, there are a few different ways you are able to unclog your drains from hair and other annoying build ups of bacteria and dirt.
It is not a good idea to constantly be using chemical products on your drains because it will only damage your pipes and if there was a leak because of this, it would be a hell of a lot more expensive.
Hopefully this guide has helped you view the best ways to protect your pipes and get rid of the clogs once and for all.
However, you do need to keep an eye on the build up over time and keep on the problem to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
There are many options which include buying a hair catcher that can make your life a whole lot easier instead of having to go through these processes again too.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Get Hair Out Of Drains Easily?
Use Baking Soda & Vinegar Before Plunging It Out: Baking soda and vinegar can be an extremely effective way of dispatching many clogs, and hair clogs are no exception.
For best results, start by squirting a little dish soap into your drain, followed by a cup of vinegar and a cup of baking soda.
With cleaning trends and DIYs becoming more popular online every day, I feel like I am in my element. Hi, my name is Adrienne Carrie Hubbard and I have been finding creative hacks and tricks for cleaning for over 15 years now.
I enjoy looking for tips on how to clean the overall home, with a special interest in the bathroom. It’s the most difficult room to clean, after all! Yet the most important.
I run a Facebook group called Cottagecore DIY and Decor with over 18,000 members called Cottagecore DIY and Decor. We were even nominated for a Facebook Community Award in 2021!
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