A clogged shower drain is one of the most common types of drain clogs, and also one of the most frustrating. No one wants to spend the most relaxing part of their day ankle-deep in standing water, but it’s a fact of life for countless people. Thankfully, unclogging a shower drain rarely requires a plumber and can be done at home with a few household items.
In this article, we’ll show you a few different ways to unclog your shower drain and take a moment to explain why shower drains get clogged so often. Feel free to jump ahead:
- Why are Shower Clogs So Common?
- How to Prevent Shower Drain Clogs
- Unclogging a Shower Drain with a Drain Snake
- Unclogging a Shower Drain with Boiling Water
- Unclogging a Shower Drain with Baking Soda and Vinegar
- When to Call a Professional to Fix Your Clogged Shower Drain
Why are Shower Clogs So Common?
Chances are that you’ve experienced a shower drain clog at some point in your life. You may have even wondered what it is that you did wrong to cause a clog that required a drain clog repair.
Truthfully, you probably didn’t do anything wrong at all. The very nature of showers, and what gets washed down the drain during them, creates the perfect environment to cause a problem.
First, there’s the actual flow of the shower. Compared to most drains in a house, a shower has one of the lowest flow rates. A higher flow rate, like the flow rate of a toilet, naturally helps to reduce the potential for problems because it prevents smaller debris from latching onto the sides of a pipe. Showers send a soft trickle of water down the drain, which can allow debris to get stuck in the pipe more easily.
More importantly, showers create a lot of small debris. During a shower, you’re washing off dirt, dead skin, and hair. All of these smaller particles, particularly hair, have a tendency to get stuck in the drain. While this doesn’t immediately cause a clog, over time this can build up into a large enough obstruction that it prevents the shower from properly draining. People who have long hair should be especially wary of letting their hair go down the drain, as longer hair is more likely to get caught in the drain pipe.
How to Prevent Shower Drain Clogs
We all know that it’s better to prevent a bad thing from happening than to have to deal with the bad thing once it happens. Rather than learn how to fix a clogged shower drain, you can learn how to prevent the clogs! To that end, here are two ways you can try to avoid shower clogs:
1. “Flush” your shower drain regularly
Showers don’t send enough water down the pipe to clear out the debris they accumulate, which is one of the primary reasons for shower clogs. Luckily, many showers are also baths, which makes it easy to flush out debris with a blast of water.
To do this, exit the shower and turn the heat to the highest setting. Once the water is hot, switch it over to the bath tap and let it run for 15–30 seconds. Doing this once or twice a week will help keep your drain clear of debris.
If your shower does not have a bath tap, you can imitate this effect by filling a bucket with hot water and pouring it down the drain at the end of your shower.
2. Use a hair catcher
One of the easiest ways to keep your shower drain from clogging and avoid shower drain repair is to install a hair catcher over the drain opening. These handy devices come in many shapes and sizes, but most are a mesh sieve that allows water, but not hair, to go into the drain. After each shower, you can remove the hair catcher and empty it into your bathroom trash can.
While these methods can help you prevent drain issues, they aren’t foolproof. And you can still end up with a drain clog after a sufficient amount of time. If your drain gets clogged despite your best efforts, there are still quite a few ways to handle it.
Effective Methods to Unclog a Shower Drain
You are spoiled for choice when it comes to how to fix a clogged shower drain. Alongside reaching out to trusted plumbers, you can also explore the use of a drain snake, boiling water, or baking soda and vinegar. Learn more about these methods below:
1. Unclogging a Shower Drain with a Drain Snake
Time required: About 10 minutes
Materials needed: Drain snake, disposable gloves/dish gloves
Instructions: A tried-and-true method of taking out clogs is to use a drain snake. While this is few people’s favourite method (frankly, it can be a little gross), it does tend to work quite well.
- Put on your gloves and insert the drain snake into the drain.
- Feed the snake into the drain until you feel the obstruction.
- Rotate the drain snake when you reach the obstruction in order to corkscrew the edge into whatever is blocking the pipe.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 to clear deeper into your drain pipe, if desired.
- Pull the snake out of the drain. If done correctly, the clog should come out with the drain snake. If nothing comes out, or a small amount comes out, repeat steps 2 through 5.
- Run the bath tap or shower to see if the water flows normally.
2. Unclogging a Shower Drain with Boiling Water
Time required: About 10–20 minutes
Materials needed: Large cup or bucket, boiling water, funnel (optional), dishwashing gloves
Instructions: As you likely learned in chemistry class or just while doing the dishes, hot water is more effective for removing material than cold water. You can use this to your advantage when you have a clogged shower drain.
- Boil water in a pot, electric kettle, or other heating device.
- Pour boiling water down the drain and wait for 10-15 minutes. We recommend using a funnel in order to avoid damage to the tub shell (though it is probably not necessary as most tub shells are designed to withstand high temperatures).
- Run your shower or bath tap. If it was cleared, it will drain normally. If it is still clogged, try this method again or resort to another method.
3. Unclogging a Shower Drain with Baking Soda and Vinegar
Time required: About 10–15 minutes
Materials needed: Measuring cup, boiling water, baking soda, vinegar, disposable gloves/dish gloves
Instructions: While vinegar and baking soda is typically the realm of elementary school science projects, it can also be a powerful clog-clearing tool.
- Pour boiling water down the drain.
- Pour one cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by a two-cup mixture of half vinegar and half water.
- Cover the drain with a tight seal (close the drain or use a drain stopper) and wait for about 10 minutes.
- Uncover the drain and run the shower or bath tap. If the clog is not cleared, repeat the steps or try another method.
When to Call a Professional to Fix Your Clogged Shower Drain
Typically, a clogged shower drain can be handled on your own, but there are some situations where a professional may need to come and take a look. You might not know how to repair shower drains if things go wrong or you simply don’t have the time.
If you try every method in the book and the clog persists, chances are you need to call a plumber. The other times when calling a plumber is necessary are when the drain produces a foul smell or water is backing up from the drain at any point. Both of these signs point to serious issues that could affect more than just your shower.
Explore Drain Cleaning Services from Mr. Rooter Plumbing®
Is your shower drain clogged even after multiple attempts to clear it? If you’ve tried clearing your shower drain to no avail, then it’s time to give the pros a call. At Mr. Rooter Plumbing®, our expert plumbers have the skills needed to take care of your drain clogs and address even the most serious plumbing issues.
If you need help with a plumbing problem soon, click the button below to find a Mr. Rooter® location in your area or request a drain clog repair online.
