No matter how careful you are, hair always finds its way into your bathroom drain. When this happens, your drains slow down, and your shower becomes less enjoyable. Fortunately, cleaning the hair out of a drain is easy with some basic supplies you may already have in your home. Read on to learn how to get rid of clogged hair from your sink and tub drains quickly and easily.
5 Ways You Can Clean Hair Out of a Drain
Baking Soda And Vinegar
When it comes to clogs in general, baking soda and vinegar are a winning combination. Start by pouring some liquid soap and then 1 cup of baking soda down the drain. Follow that up with an equal amount of white vinegar and wait 5-10 minutes. The mixture will bubble and fizz as it works to remove the hair clog from your drain. After 10 minutes, pour boiling hot water down the drain to finish removing the clog.
If you don’t have baking soda and vinegar on hand, or if there’s still some hair left in the drain, a cup plunger can work wonders. Fill your sink or tub with enough water to cover the plunger cup, then place the plunger over the drain tightly and plunge several times. This should help to remove any remaining hair from the drain.
Needle Nose Pliers or Tweezers
If using a plunger doesn’t work, you can use needle nose pliers or tweezers to remove the hair from the drain. The first step is to remove your drain cover. How you do so will depend on the type of drain you are dealing with. Put on some gloves and carefully reach down into the drain with your pliers or tweezers and pull out any visible clumps of hair. You may need a flashlight to help you examine the drain more closely.
Once you’ve removed as much hair as possible, put the drain cover back on and run some hot water down the drain to flush out any remaining bits of hair. Try to be gentle while doing this so that you don’t accidentally damage the pipes.
Get a Drain Snake
After you’ve tried to remove the hair from the drain with a plunger and some tools, it might be time to break out the big guns and get a drain snake. A drain snake is a long tool that can be used to reach further down into your pipes and break up clogged material like hair or soap scum. To use one, simply insert the end of the snake into your drain and start turning to break up the clog. You should be able to feel when the snake is hitting the clog. Once it does, keep pushing and twisting until you have broken up the material and pulled it out of the drain.
If you don’t have a drain snake and can’t purchase one right away, you can use a wire hanger. All you need to do is straighten out the hanger and then shape one end into a hook. Then insert it into the drain and try to hook it onto the clog. After snaking or clearing the clog with a wire hanger, you can also use the baking soda and vinegar method described above to really get rid of any trapped material in the pipes. Flushing with hot water after snaking should help as well.
Remove Your Drain Completely
Although this may not be an easy solution, the last thing you can do to get rid of a clogged hair drain is to remove it completely. This requires some knowledge and will take some time, but if all else fails this should do the trick. If it’s a sink drain, place a bucket beneath the sink and unscrew the drain from underneath at the p-trap.
If it’s a shower or tub drain, you will require a plug wrench. Once the drain is removed, any clumps of hair should come out easily. After cleaning out all the hair, reassemble your sink or tub and test it to make sure there are no leaks.
Contact a Plumbing Contractor
Finally, if all of your efforts have been unsuccessful, it might be time to contact a plumbing contractor for help. Plumbers are experts at removing clogged hair from drains and will most likely be able to do the job quickly and efficiently. It’s always best to take care of your plumbing problems as soon as you notice them, so don’t hesitate to call the team at Acme Plumbing.
Following these steps should help you clean out hair from your drains quickly and easily. Remember to be gentle and take your time when using any tools, and if all else fails it may be time to call a professional plumber. With the right knowledge and supplies, however, you can keep your bathroom drains free of clogs and flowing freely. Preventative maintenance is key, so be sure to check the drain every few weeks and remove any build-up of hair before it becomes a problem.
Preventing Clogs in The Future
Once you’ve removed the clog, you don’t want it to come back. To prevent future clogs, be sure to take a few simple steps:
- Use a shower drain hair catcher. These are inexpensive mesh filters that fit over your drain and catch any hair before it goes down the pipes.
- Clean your drains regularly. Once a month, pour some baking soda and vinegar into the drains to keep them clean and free of debris. You can follow the mixture up with some hot water.
- Don’t let hair build up around the drain. Take time to clean up any clumps of hair that may form around the drain, and make sure to sweep your bathroom often.
- Don’t pour grease or cooking oil down the sink. Grease and oils can build up in your pipes and cause a nasty clog.
Contact Acme Plumbing For Help
If you’re unable to clean out hair from your drains, don’t hesitate to contact a professional plumber. Acme Plumbing specializes in resolving clogged drain issues quickly and efficiently. We can assess the situation and determine the best course of action for unclogging any type of drain. Don’t wait another day – contact us today at (919) 688-1348.
