Hair clogs in tubs and showers

[Scott D. Plumber]

This will get you done most of the time.

Look for and buy the drain stick. This is a device sold in home centers.

There are two kinds that I have seen.

One looks like a long black plastic stick with a tiny 4-sided comb on the end. It has a flat handle on the other end and is very flexible and strong.

The other is a white plastic stick that is flat with barbs running up both sides.

Both work well.

To remover the hair, stick the stick into the drain. Rotate it a couple of times and pull it out.

It will come out with the hair on it. If you have a lot of hair it may be quite difficult to pull out and can take some strength! I have seen a hair clog of over 3' that was about 2” round at the thickest come from an 1-1/2” tub drain. Yuck!

[Sylvan Tieger]

A decent wet dry 5 HP like a Sears is a great tool for removing hair and other debris from drains in case one is concerrned about lead traps being punctured by a snake

[PLUMBILL]

I have found a number of home owners breaking the teeth off and next call will be a broken hair snake stuck down the drain.

[Sylvan Tieger]

[quote="PLUMBILL"]I have found a number of home owners breaking the teeth off and next call will be a broken hair snake stuck down the drain. [/quote]

I had signs on my vans "We repair what your husband tried to fix" I had one job where the handyman tried to use a closet auger through a tub over flow and what a heck of a job to get it unstuck .

Certain things a home owner should just not attempt to do or hire someone incompetent to dabble in plumbing ,electrical or heating.

[Ivel]

how do u get the hair out of the drain without that special tool? whats the old fashioned way?>

[Sylvan Tieger]

[quote="Ivel"]how do u get the hair out of the drain without that special tool? whats the old fashioned way?>[/quote]

Old fashioned way is still alive and well calling a LMP to snake out the line and the best way to snake the line is removing the trap as running the snake through the tiny clean out on the botton of a P trap is not the greatest thing to do as many DIY people found out when their snake caught a handiwipe of lots of hair and they were unable to pull the snake back through the CO

[PLUMBILL]

Hay, Scott D Plumber Are you Hawking these now instead of thankless water heaters and un-vented Gas Fire Places

[AlJohnson]

I've tried this once but couldn't stomach what came out from the drain so I ended up hiring a plumbing team.