It is pretty common for shower drains to stop sucking in water. This is typically due to obstructions, such as hair, that prevent water from running through.
You do not need to call a plumber if you’re dealing with a simple matter like a clogged drain. However, you do need to be aware of home repair tips to avoid making any costly mistakes.
Home maintenance courses can guide you through entire home repair and improvement processes. Let’s explore a guide to unclog your shower drain and keep it that way.
How to Unclog a Shower Drain
Shower drains need to be manually cleaned every few days. If you shower every day, you are leaving hairs behind in the drain. These can lead to obstructions in the drain and make it difficult for the water to pass through.
The resulting effect is dirty water on your feet, which is pretty gross. So, it is essential to unclog your shower drain properly if you notice water building up instead of running through.
1. Clean your Drain Cover
Most shower drains are removable. Some of them require a screwdriver to loosen any screws, but it is doable by yourself. Once you remove the cover, you will likely see what the problem is.
If there are tons of hairs lodged in the cover, you can use a tissue and remove all the muck. If you are grossed out by the activity, you can wear protective gloves.
Although this task is pretty simple, you can find home maintenance courses online to avoid making mistakes.
In most cases, your shower drain will return to normal. However, if it is still taking its time draining the water, you need to try something else.
2. Use a Drain Opener
Drain openers are useful for loosening up the grime buildup in your shower drain. Some drain openers are safe to use, while others may be acidic. So, it is best to use the lighter option while following home repair tips to avoid making any costly errors.
A natural remedy is to use baking soda and vinegar, which produces the same effect. If you’re dealing with grime and lodged hair and debris in the shower drain, you can pour vinegar and baking soda solution and leave it to settle in the shower.
After waiting ten to twenty minutes, you can pour boiling water into the drain to clean it thoroughly. This removes all the grime and muck, which unclogs your shower drain.
Deep cleaning your shower this way is essential every once in a while. Unclogging solutions like a drain cleaner or vinegar and baking soda mixture should always be step two in case cleaning the drain cover doesn’t work.
3. Use a Plumber’s Snake
In some cases, the obstruction may be lodged deep in the shower drain. Therefore, it is best to use a plumber’s snake and navigate it through the drain to push through the blockage.
You may also make one at home by using a wire. However, you may need to look through home repair tips on a home maintenance course to use the correct technique.
For example, the wire must be bendy and sturdy at the same time. This makes it possible to navigate it through turns and find the blockage in your shower drain. Once you find it, you can poke through the clog repeatedly to break it apart and allow the grime to come undone.
Some obstructions may be so far in the drainpipe that you may not get any results from the wire. In such cases, it is useful to use special solutions that facilitate the unclogging process.
Depending on the material of your pipe, you may use harsher solvents that produce significant results. However, you should avoid using strong acids since they can corrode your drainpipe, leading to expensive complications.
4. Use Eco-Friendly Drain Cleaners
Many harsh solvents are not good for the environment. Therefore, you should always use eco-friendly solvents that produce similar results. This allows you to fix your drainage problem while minimizing any adverse effects on the environment.
Prevention is the best remedy, and you may use these solvents once every two weeks to prevent buildup in your drain.
The Home Menders Offer Home Repair Tips Through Home Maintenance Courses
The Home Menders are DIY experts that understand the plight of homeowners. When dealing with tricky situations requiring repair or DIY solutions, it is best to refer to our home maintenance courses.
Our courses and home repair tips can help you navigate any problems, including shower drains, sewers, and septic systems.
Take your home maintenance seriously by visiting our website and checking out our latest courses.