Most Tampa homeowners will agree, nothing is worse than standing in ankle-deep, dirty water thanks to a pesky hair clog in your shower drain. No matter what you do, you just can’t keep the hair from clumping together and causing your drains to slow to a painful crawl. Before you grab a razor and begin taking drastic measures, there are plenty of steps you can take to prevent hair clogs in your drains and eliminate them effectively when they do occur. Find out what you can do to fight against hair clogs in your drains by reading the blog below!HAIR CLOG PREVENTION FOR YOUR DRAINS
The best way to stop any problem from happening is to take precautionary measures to mitigate its likelihood. The plumbing professionals at Cass Plumbing have seen it all, and we know the best techniques to use in order to prevent hair clogs in your drains. Some easy prevention measures include:
Drain Cover Installation: Purchase a drain screen from any hardware or home goods store and place one in every shower or tub in your home. There are even underneath drain screens specifically designed to trap hair.- Remove Hair from Sinks & Showers: Before taking a shower or bath, brush the excess hair off your head to prevent any loose hairs from falling on the tub floor. Keep an eye out for any hair you see and wipe it away from the drain.
- Flush Your Drains: This takes a bit of family coordination to accomplish. Simply close all bathtub and shower drains and sink drains, fill each tub or sink with warm water, and have someone standing next to each drain and toilet in the home. At the same time, everyone should open their drains and flush the toilets to flush all the drains at once.
These three prevention methods can keep you from pulling your hair out over clogged drains in the home. However, even the most careful individuals can still fall victim to slow-moving drains caused by hair clogs. Luckily, there are actions you can take for safe removal without having to call in a professional.
5 of the best ways to remove hair from a clogged shower or sink drain
Plumber’s Snake or Wire Hanger
The simplest method is often the most effective: just grabbing the hair blockage and pulling it out! If the blockage isn’t too far down the pipe, you may be able to reach it with a simple plumber’s snake or drain stick. This long, flexible pole with a small claw at the end is a handy tool for every homeowner to have for such an occasion.
Simply insert the tool down the drain until you reach the obstruction, grab it and pull it out. If you don’t have either of these tools handy, you can often accomplish the same task using a modified wire hanger. The average wire hanger and be turned into a hook that can serve the same purpose as the snake or claw.
Boiling Water
One of the most common reasons hair gets stuck in your drain in the first place is because of soap and grease build-up coating the inside of your pipes that grabs ahold of the hair, building more and more until there is a complete clog. Eliminating that goopy buildup can oftentimes remove a hair clog, and an easy way is with boiling water.
Simply boil water in a pot on your stove and pour it down the drain. The boiling hot water breaks down the grease and soap, releasing the hair and allowing it to flush down the drain. Just make sure you use a funnel to direct it down the drain, so you don’t spill and burn yourself.
Vacuum
If the hair clog isn’t too far from the drain and the buildup of grease and soap isn’t too bad, there’s an off-chance that you may be able to suck out the hair clog with a vacuum. For the best results, make sure the drain is uncovered and as dry as possible.
Using a nozzle attachment, plug the top of the drain and use the highest setting to suck out the contents. Considering the obstruction may be further down the pipe, this may be one of the least effective methods but may be helpful in removing any leftover remnants following the application of one of these other methods.
Baking Soda and Vinegar
The combination of baking soda and vinegar is a simple, ecologically friendly and safer solution that acts similarly to chemical drain cleaners. Pour about a cup of baking soda down the drain followed by about a cup of vinegar to cause an acidic chemical reaction that can help clean drains and remove hair clogs. Follow it up with a flush of hot water an hour or so after to check on the clog.
Unlike chemical cleaners, this combination won’t come at the price of potentially causing damage to your plumbing. We can’t recommend strongly enough that you avoid the use of chemical drain cleaners!
Need Your Drain Lines Cleared? Call Cass Plumbing!
If your Tampa home needs plumbing repair, call the Tampa plumbing professionals at Cass Plumbing.
The plumbing professionals at Cass Plumbing have solving plumbing problems throughout the Tampa region for 2 decades. Cass Plumbing has earned an A+ Rating with the Tampa Better Business Bureau, are ranked as the Best Plumber in the Tampa area by Best Plumbers and have received over 1,000 – 5 star reviews. At Cass Plumbing of Tampa Bay, we are here to serve you for all your plumbing needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
