Clogged Shower Drain: What to Try First, and When DIY Stops Working

A shower that drains slowly usually has one cause: hair, held together by soap scum. In the Valley, hard water adds a third ingredient, mineral scale that gives the clog something to grip. Most of the time you can clear it yourself in a few minutes.

Start with the easy fixes

1. Take off the drain cover. Many lift or twist out; some have one screw. Hair often collects right under it.
2. Pull the hair out. A cheap plastic drain tool with barbs (sold at any hardware store) or a bent wire hanger reaches a few inches down. This alone fixes most shower clogs.
3. Flush with hot tap water. Run the shower hot for a minute to carry away loosened soap scum. Very hot tap water is enough; you don't need to boil anything.
4. Plunge it. Use a cup plunger with enough water to cover the rubber. If it's a tub-shower, cover the overflow plate with a wet rag so the pressure goes into the clog, not out the overflow.
5. Try a small hand snake. A 15- to 25-foot drum auger reaches past the trap under the shower, which is where stubborn clogs sit.

Why we'd skip the chemical drain cleaner

Most store-bought drain cleaners are strong acids or alkalis (lye). Poison Control warns they can cause severe chemical burns, that some heat up in the drain, and that splashback is most likely when they're poured into a drain that's completely blocked, which is exactly what a clogged shower is.

They also tend to fail on hair. Then the drain is full of chemical, and plunging or snaking it can splash it back at you. If you've already poured some in:

• Don't plunge and don't add a different product. Mixing cleaners can release toxic gas.
• Tell your plumber what you used before they start.
• If it gets on skin or in eyes, or someone swallows it, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

Signs it's not just the shower

The shower drain shares pipes with the rest of the bathroom, and eventually with the main sewer line. These signs point past the shower:

• More than one drain is slow at the same time: tub, sink and toilet.
• The toilet gurgles or the water in it moves when the shower runs.
• Water comes up in the shower or tub when you flush or run the washing machine.
• A sewage smell from the drain that cleaning doesn't fix.
• The clog keeps coming back within a few weeks of clearing it.

Any of those means the blockage is further down the line, often in the main line, and a shower snake won't reach it. More on how bathroom drains connect: can a shower and toilet share a drain?

Keep it from coming back

• Put a hair catcher over the drain and empty it after each shower.
• Run hot water for a minute after showers to rinse soap residue.
• Pull the cover and clean out hair once a month.

When to call a plumber

Call when DIY doesn't clear it, when the clog comes back, or when you see any of the signs above. A plumber can clear the line properly, and if it keeps happening, a camera inspection shows exactly what's in the pipe instead of guessing.

OX Plumbing handles drain cleaning across the East Valley and answers 24/7. Our $99 service call covers the visit, the diagnosis and an upfront price.

Sources

• Poison Control (poison.org): What's in drain cleaner?