How to Unclog Your Bathtub Drain

The first inclination of many is to use a chemical drain opening product on bathtub clogs. However, considering that this is where you and your family bathe, using a harsh chemical on these surfaces is best avoided. Some "green" products are available and are safer to use.

Bathtub drain clogs in many cases are the result of hair loss. It's a natural occurrence to lose a few strands while showering and bathing. Over time, if the drain is not well strained, hair will pass through the drain holes and sometimes accumulate in traps and clean-outs.

When this occurs, it may be necessary (providing your home has a basement with the bath on the first floor) to approach the problem at the clean-out. Clean-outs are containments that your wastewater enters before passing into its drain pipe. These are capped, and the caps can be removed for the purpose of cleaning.

In the event that your drain system has no such clean-out, then the clog will have to be approached differently. For the remainder of this article, we will consider the latter.

Taking in mind the easier approach first, you can use a typical home plunger to work over the drain. Getting a good seat with the plunger lips is essential for its optimum performance. Once this sealing of the plunger over the drain is accomplished, a steady rhythmic up and down motion will usually do the trick and send the obstruction down the drain pipe.

Should this not open the clog, then another method must be applied. Some strainers have a snap-in feature to hold them in place in the bath drain. Others screw into a flanged portion of piping beneath the tub. A pair of nose pliers or a small screwdriver that will fit through one of the strainer's holes will usually be sufficient to remove the snap-in form of strainer cap. You don't want to use too much force in finding out the difference. Generally the snap-in style will come out with relative ease. If this is not the case and your strainer is a screw in style, one way of unscrewing the strainer would be to insert the nose plier jaws into different strainer holes and twist with a counterclockwise movement to remove.

Much of the hair will accumulate beneath the strainer. By removing the strainer, access to the obstructions is much easier. This would be a good time to reapply your plunger. Compressed air drain openers can also be utilized in these circumstances, however, since most bathtub clogs are hair related, the need for this form of drain opener is rare.

One of the best ways to avoid bathtub clogs in the future is to make a regular practice of cleaning the strainer of hair after every bath and shower. An occasional pouring of bleach into drains when cleaning bathrooms helps eliminate this problem as well.