How to unclog a shower drain?

Anna
by Anna

I'm looking for a way to clean my shower drain and get it unclogged


  28 answers
  • Kathy Gunter Law Kathy Gunter Law on Sep 24, 2019

    Remove as much as possible with a snake or drain cleaning tool. Pour ½ cup baking soda then ½ cup white vinegar in the drain and cover, letting sit for 20 minutes. Boil water, remove cover, and pour water down the drain. You may have to repeat the process.

  • Linda Linda on Sep 24, 2019

    This gizmo can possibly unclog drains and vacuum hoses, toilets etc. It's a narrow flexible metal rod with a claw on one end and plunger on the other. Mechanics use them to retrieve fallen screws etc. Best $12 ever spent. It is called by different names: retractable claw retriever stick, snake and cable aid, grabber pickup tool.

  • Robyn Garner Robyn Garner on Sep 25, 2019

    If possible remove the drain cover. Pull out as much hair & gunk as possible using a zip tool, needle nosed pliers, etc. Then, yes, baking soda down the drain and white vinegar on top of it. It will fizz and make "smoke" but this is merely the acid and base neutralizing each other. HOT water afterward.


    Then, pour about 1/4-1/2 cup blue Dawn down the drain and let sit for 1/2 hour+. Boil a large pot of water and pour that over the blue Dawn and it should be clear. If not, repeat.

  • Betty Meyeraan Tovar Betty Meyeraan Tovar on Sep 29, 2019

    Yes. I pour baking soda and vinegar down all my drains at least once a month followed by hot water. It helps keep the drains open and cleaner smelling.

  • Judy Judy on Jun 24, 2019

    Adding to the above suggestions I recently had a stubborn clog. I did the baking soda and vinegar and hot water. My addition was dish soap squeezed about 2 table spoons and kosher salt.

    The salt scrubs and the soap degreased and slid the stuff down.

  • Rebecca Taylor Rebecca Taylor on Apr 02, 2019

    Hi there, I usually pour in 1/4 cup of baking soda and then add 1/2 cup of vinegar. I let that sit for about an hour and then flush with really hot water.

  • Chloe Crabtree Chloe Crabtree on Apr 02, 2019

    How to Unclog Your Drain With Baking Soda and Vinegar

    1. Pour a pot of boiling hot water down your drain.
    2. Dump in about 1/2 c. baking soda. ...
    3. Then, pour a mixture of 1 c. vinegar and 1. ...
    4. Cover with a drain plug (to keep the reaction down below the drain surface) if you have one and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.


  • Ken Ken on May 17, 2018

    A drain snake.


    I have never achieved good results from chemical drain cleaners and if you fill the pipes with a caustic solution and have to disassemble pipes to remove a clog things could get ugly. Some differentiate between packaged drain cleaners like Drano or Mr. Plumber and "home remedies". Dumping vinegar and baking soda down your drain is even less likely to work.

  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on Nov 13, 2019
    My problem with the shower drain has always been the hair that gets trapped, and then soap and other stuff attaches to the hair. I use a wire with a brush tip and barbs called a hair grabber to pull it out. You śometimes have to unscrew the cover to be able to grab it all.
  • Rynn Rynn on Nov 30, 2019

    Lowe's sells a skinny little gadget for this purpose for about $3.00- $4.00 . Mine is yellow, about 18 inches long with little barbs on the side. You wiggle it down the drain, then pull up; the hair catches on the barbs. Might take 2 or 3 tries to clear it all, but this is a quick, easy, and cheap solution. :)

  • Karla Karla on Feb 25, 2018

    Try these: 8 Ways to Unclog a Shower Drain

    1. Pour boiling water down the drain.
    2. Try using a plunger.
    3. Use baking soda and vinegar (the natural alternative to chemicals)!
    4. Take the drain cover off and pull out the clog by hand.
    5. Use a hook.
    6. Use a plumbers’ snake (also sometimes called a "toilet jack" or an "electric eel").
    7. Use chemicals.

    Call a plumber, if you have to.

  • Paul Eaton Paul Eaton on Nov 02, 2019

    Pour about 1 teaspoon of Draino crystals into the drain. let it sit for 30 minutes or so then flush with hot water.

  • Lynn Sorrell Lynn Sorrell on Jul 02, 2019

    Pure LYE cheap at Ace Hardware,online,hardware stores works quick,and well also need to use needle nose pliers to pull any hairballs/wads up from drain that are stuck in opening(yeah be prepared it'll look like drowned dead mouse) if you can see it around opening of drain this needs done----get yourself a drain screen/strainers of somekind to prevent everything from going down drain into pipes

  • Sue La Fave-Carley Sue La Fave-Carley on Feb 22, 2015
    Try this. You can find it at Home Depot and Menards. It works the best. $10.98 / each Instant Power 67.6 oz. Hair and Grease Drain Opener
  • Cortney Cortney on Feb 22, 2015
    Our shower stall use to clog all the time. We used an auger to make a little hole so the water could drain out, then once the water had drained we would put an alkaseltzer tablet or a denture tablet in the drain and let it sit for about 40 min. Then after it had sat we would pour roughly a gallon of boiling water down it. The tablets help break up gunk and the boiling water helps to flush it out. If it is hair clogging it then the auger would help on its own.
  • Linda Linda on Feb 22, 2015
    If you can... check to see if there is hair in the drain. If there, is take an old wire clothes hanger, and bend the bottom into a small hook so you can get it down the drain. pull up and remove the hair, and go down again to see if there is any more in there..... The take a cup of BAKING SODA, and pour it down into the drain hole. Then take a cup of VINEGAR and pour that in, on top of the baking soda. You might have to poke it a time or two to get it to go down. It will eat all the gunk right out, and then if it istill slow, do it again. Then, after your sure the drain is pretty clear and RINSED OUT WELL .... you can pour a cup of clorox bleach down the drain. It will stop the gunk from sticking to the sides and eat out the sticky mold that grows in drains. After about 10 or 15 minutes, you can run hot water through it. Be sure to rinse the bleach out as it has a strong odor. If that doesn't work, then you have a BIGGER issue. ** NOTE ** I pour bleach down my drains every month or so to make sure I have a clean drain. You can do both kitchens and bathrooms. Kills bacteria, and stops the 'sewer' smell. AND, prevents most drains from clogging up again! Have a wonderful day, especially you guys up there in the snow. God Bless you all....
  • Laurie Culley-Holevas Laurie Culley-Holevas on Feb 22, 2015
    I use a large wet/dry shop vac. Place the nozzle over the drain and turn on the vacuum. Everything sucks out within a few minutes! Hair, water, whatever comes out and goes into the canister of the vacuum for easy clean up. You may have to repeat a few times depending in the length of the clog. We have 3 girls with long hair and this method works every time!
  • R R on Apr 09, 2017

    Lowes hardware: Zip It. Plastic rod with teeth. Follow instructions. Inexpensive. Wear gloves and have garbage bag ready. Then, baking soda and vinegar to help dissapate odors.

  • Dgreen Dgreen on Nov 14, 2017

    Blockages in bath or shower drain is usually hair. When this happens, we pour bleach into the drain and let it sit for 24 hrs before we take our next shower. Run hot water down the drain and behold, it will run smoothly and freely. This has never failed to work.

  • Cecile1834 Cecile1834 on Nov 04, 2018

    We solved our problem with the slow drainage from our shower drain. Using Dish detergent about 1/2 cup then waiting 5 minutes added very hot (almost boiling) water, it cleared itself out.

  • Deb K Deb K on Jan 09, 2022

    Hello Anna, hope this helps you out, it have 5 ways to unclog a drain

    https://bungalow.com/articles/five-easy-ways-to-unclog-your-shower-drain

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Jan 11, 2022

    BUY A dRAIN UNCLOGING LIQUID AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. OR use drain unblocking brushes.


  • Agnes Chrzanowska Agnes Chrzanowska on Jan 31, 2022

    Check all those here https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=how%20to%20unclog%20shower&rs=typed&term_meta[]=how%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=to%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=unclog%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=shower%7Ctyped

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Jan 02, 2023

    You could try to unclog with a wire with a hook on it , twist it as you bring it up to collect hair etc.

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Feb 03, 2023

    Long stick or wire , push to bottom snd the swirl arround to pick up hair etc. If you can get hold of the long handled brushes for sinks from the DIY store, they are even better.

  • Get a drain snake at the hardware or home improvement store.