If the drains in and around your shower have little wiggly worms crawling about them, this is not good news.
Known as drain worms, these tiny black worms are actually the larvae of drain flies.

This means that getting rid of them now is essential. Why? Because you don’t want them spreading their wings to breed in other areas of your home like the kitchen.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom on the drain-worm front, there is a solution.
In fact, there are a few solutions and that is what this article is all about.
We know how gross and offputting drain worms can be when all you want to do is enjoy your shower.
For this reason, we have put together the most effective methods for eliminating drain worms, once and for all.
How To Get Rid Of Drain Worms In The Shower?
Though they pose no danger to yourself or your family, drain worms are still classified as unwanted pests of the home.
To gain back control of your shower and let out a big sigh of worm-free relief, these swifty tricks of the trade should do the trick.
Unclog Your Drain Filters
Unclogging your shower drain filter is a super easy and effective means of saying bye-bye to your drain worm problems.
If left unattended, they can become a breeding ground for drain flies which means their worm larvae won’t be far behind.
Remove the drain filter if at all possible and give it a good and proper seeing to.
Clean it of all hair, grime, debris, and build-up, and drain flies won’t be so drawn to it.
Boiling Water
This solution should be administered with caution and away from children for obvious reasons.
Just boiled water will do a very valiant job of breaking down any potential organic matter that may be hiding inside your drain.
Drain worms love to nestle into organic matter, so its removal is paramount.
Just boiled water will actually kill off the living organisms that call your drain home, worms and all.
Bio-Enzymatic Cleaning Agent
Bio-enzymatic cleaning agents are great because they make it an easy task to clean your drain.
Their ability to soften organic matter, ensures you don’t miss a thing.
Even the smallest spot of residue can grow into a drain worm haven.
By helping you to remove dirt and grease, a bio-enzymatic cleaning agent will do its best effort to stop this from happening.
Baking Soda And Vinegar
On their own, baking soda and vinegar are just two kitchen cupboard essentials.
When put together, however, they turn into a super powerful cleaning agent. Put your science cap on for this one because it’s about to get fizzy.
Pour one cup of baking soda into two cups of vinegar and wait for it to start fizzing up.
Once it is sufficiently fizzed it is time to pour the concoction down your drain.
This dynamic duo of the cleaning arena will break down organic matter and kill drain worms.
Also, both products are pleasantly chemical-free which means they are safe to use around your kids and pets.
Metal Pipe Brush
Metal pipe brushes can be sourced from any reputable hardware store for not a lot of money.
For how much they cost, they certainly earn their keep as they are another highly effective tool in the drain-cleaning trade.
A metal pipe brush’s long and strong handle (Check out this Step-By-Step Guide For Replacing A Toilet Handle) will allow you to get down to the deepest recess of your drain pipe.
Give the sides of your drain pipe a good scrubbing to remove the stubborn organic matter that has built up over time down there.
Even if you haven’t got a deep-set issue of organic matter, a pipe brush is still a good investment.
This is because it allows you to keep at an arm’s reach from the gunk and grime of your shower drain.
Plumbing Snake
Plumbing snakes are used by professional plumbers for the removal of organic matter in drains.

While a professional plumber will have an arsenal of high-grade plumbing snakes at the ready, you should be able to pick up a budget one from your local hardware store for not an excessive amount of money.
In saying that, it will likely cost more than a metal pipe brush so maybe try that first.
The beauty of a plumbing snake is that they can get to places where pipe brushes can only dream of.
Their long and bendy coil can weave its way deep into a shower drain pipe.
To use one all you will need to do is insert its coil into the drain pipe.
Once the coil is in, push and twist the coil through your drain until you are left with no more snake.
This should do a serious number on the deep breeding grounds of drain flies.
Bleach
Bleach has a notorious reputation these days but that is only because it is so effective.
Bleach’s cleaning credentials can be put down to its chemical compounds being powerful enough to remove almost anything from a surface.
With this great power does come great responsibility as it is also incredibly poisonous.
For this reason, we would suggest wearing gloves when using bleach and keeping it well away from your mouth, eyes, and face.
Once you have your PPE sorted, you will need to dilute the bleach into the water as per the bottle’s instructions.
Pouring bleach onto the surface of your drain and down it will instantly kill any and all drain worms.
Because it is so potent it will even get to the worms hiding out in your shower grout, something a lot of the other solutions can not do.
Plunger
Sometimes a plunger is all that is needed to bring up the build-up.
Remove the shower filter and give the drain a good old-fashioned plunging.
If there is an organic matter issue down there, a plunger will hopefully be able to loosen it and bring it to the surface of the shower.
At this point, you can expect to drain worms and larvae and remove them accordingly.
Use in conjunction with a bio-enzymatic cleaning agent for the best results.
Mineral Oil
Whether you use it as a preventative measure against drain worms or to stop an infestation from happening again, mineral oil is here for you.
Mineral oil works by covering the surface of a drain in a film that makes it next to impossible for drain flies to lay their larvae.
Think of it as an anti-drain-worm shield and you will be thinking along the right lines.
Of course, having a shower will remove the mineral oil down the drain so it is advised to do it straight after your shower and not before.
Insecticide
Though an insecticide may not be the first solution to try, desperate worm-riddled times call for desperate measures.
There are a million and one insecticides that can and will kill organisms such as drain worms.
However, seeing as we are dealing with the space that you shower in daily, we would suggest picking up a natural insecticide and skipping on the harsh chemical-based ones.
Super simple to use, just pour it down your drain, as well as the surface of it, and your drain worm problem should be no more.
Kill The Adult Drain Flies
When you know that drain worms come from the larvae of drain flies, it makes perfect sense why you would want to kill drain flies too.
Think of it as stopping the problem at its source, because no drain flies buzzing about means no larvae or worms.
There are natural spray insecticides that do a swift job of stopping adult drain flies in their tracks.
Fly swatters, fly-catching tapes, and traps can all do their part too.
Conclusion
Taking a shower at the end of a long and grinding day is one of the great joys in life.
A joy that can be spoiled and stained by an unexpected plage of drain worms.
Luckily, as you can see, there is a multitude of ways to eliminate drain worms from your shower.
Whether you start small with a simple cleaning of your drain filter.
Or, you go big from the offset with a drain fly-killing insecticide, we hope this article has helped you to gain back control of your shower domain.
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