A hair clog is one of the most common clogs that virtually everyone encounters at some point. Even if you employ a drain stopper, hair may build in your lines over time, forming ugly clumps that significantly slow down your drains. The good news is that you don’t need to quit shaving or take dramatic steps to prevent this issue. If your tub, shower, or bathroom sink drain is clogged with hair you can take a few easy measures to remove the clog and allow your drain to run freely again. Please continue reading for our top five methods for removing hair from drains, and remember that Elizabeth Plumbing and Drain Service is your one-stop shop for all important plumbing requirements.
5 Things You Should Do If You Have A Hair Clog
1. Add baking soda and vinegar to the hair clog before plunging.
Baking soda and vinegar may successfully remove various clogs, including hair clogs. Begin by squirting a little Pour One cup of vinegar and dish soap down the drain.
Baking soda. Wait about five minutes for the chemical reaction of the vinegar and baking soda, then follow with a cup or more of hot water. This should clear away most of the hair blockage, but you should still use a cup plunger on the drain to remove any hair that remains. Make sure you’re using a cup or “flat” plunger, and if the blockage persists, repeat this step as needed.
2.Pull The Hair Out Of The Drain With Tweezers Or Needle-Nose Pliers
Unlike bulkier clogs, hair’s stringy texture might make it tough to pull out. If you’ve attempted to remove a hairy clog by plunging it out of your drain but haven’t been successful, you may need to try tugging it out with tweezers instead. To begin, remove your drain stopper if you have one. Depending on the design of your drain, you may need to accomplish this manually in certain circumstances. However, you may also require a screwdriver (while you’re at it, remove any collected hair off the stopper). After that, shine a flashlight down your drain to closely examine the obstruction issue. You should then be able to use your needle-nose pliers to remove the unsightly hair collection. You should wear gloves while doing this since pulling hair out may be painful, and you should also pour some hot water down the drain when you finish to flush any nascent strands out.
3.Purchase A Drain Snake
If melting your hair clogs with baking soda and vinegar, plunging it out, and removing it with tweezers doesn’t work, you can break that clog apart using a snaking device. What sort of snake do you want to know? Depending on the degree of the blockage, you may have many choices. Straightening a wire hanger and putting it down the drain to break it apart, a backup may work in less severe circumstances. Other times, you may invest in a zip-it tool. These plastic drain cleaners are inexpensive, disposable, simple to use, and commonly accessible online. Additional drain snake devices are available at your local hardware shop or online. Each is built to cope with obstructions of varied sizes. Snaking your drain effectively breaks up any obstacles and helps scrape the walls of your line clean. Still, follow up with the baking soda and vinegar procedure described above, or at the very least, flush your drain with hot water to ensure the clog is entirely gone.
4. Remove Your Whole Drain
The last home treatment for removing a hair blockage is typically the most demanding. If a backup continues after you’ve tried all the previous ways, you may Remove your drain and try to clean it that way. Unscrew the p-trap (the p-shaped drain pipe under the sink meant to expel sewage gasses) and place a bucket beneath it to catch any water dripping. Meanwhile, a plug wrench, a tool mainly designed to fit into your drain’s crossbars so you can easily pull it out, will be required to remove the drain from your shower/tub. Again, wear rubber gloves whenever you release a drain since it is a rather unclean process. If all of this seems too hard, or if you are uncomfortable performing this much plumbing work alone, you may also…
5. Call For Professional Drain Cleaning
While dealing with a hair blockage might be difficult, you can contact Elizabeth Plumbing and Drain Service for drain cleaning if all else fails. Using our drain cleaning gear and technologies, we can clear blockages caused by hair, soap scum, grease, food, toilet paper, and various other difficult-to-remove objects. Remember to avoid using liquid drain cleaners at all costs. These treatments are efficient, often resting on top of a clog rather than eating through it, but they also contain dangerous chemicals that will corrode your pipes. Instead, try one of our do-it-yourself drain cleaning options, or contact Elizabeth Plumbing and Drain Service anytime for service—we’re even accessible 24/7 in an emergency!
Methods to Avoid Hair-Clogging Drains in the Future
Congratulations, you’ve eliminated the hair blockage from your drain! The main thing is to ensure you don’t have to do this again anytime soon by preventing future problems.
It isn’t easy to keep hair out of your drains straightforwardly, but it does need some planning. Here are some excellent ways to reduce the quantity of hair in your gutters.
Brush your hair before entering the shower.
Did you know the typical human loses 50 to 100 hairs every day? That adds too much hair going into your drain after a few days between washing. The most straightforward approach to keep hair out of your shower drains is to brush before you wash to save as much loose hair out of your shower as possible. It’s far simpler to remove a clump of hair from your brush than to remove a clog from the drain!
Purchase A Shower Drain Hair Trap
Long hair is the leading cause of shower drain blockages, but there is something you can do about it. The remedy is simple and affordable: buy an inexpensive shower drain hair catcher that fits just over the drain and captures any hair before it enters the drain line. Remove the hair from the trap and discard it after your shower. There are several brands and models to pick from; just be sure you choose one compatible with your drain (flat shower floor drain or pop-up tub drain).
Maintain Your Drains
Hair blockages are more prone to occur when your drains are clogged with soap scum and other filth. Keeping your gutters clean is an excellent method to prevent obstructions. Pour white vinegar and baking soda down your drains regularly. When the bubbling stops, run hot water into the gutters.
Call (908) 988-0365 to arrange a drain cleaning appointment in the Elizabeth, NJ, area. Additionally, you may contact us online.
