How To Unclog A Bathtub Drain

Excuse my excitement, but yesterday at exactly 5:41 pm I told our clogged bathtub drain who was boss. I did it all by myself while John was at work (gotta love girl power) and without spending a dime, calling a plumber, OR using chemical drain cleaners like Drain-o or Liquid Plumr. Victory is mine! So we’re gonna share every trick we tried, and what eventually worked best.

We received nearly 200 crowd-sourced techniques on yesterday morning’s post (FYI – this post was originally published when we lived in our first home)! We even had some plumbers weigh in with expert advice!

Unclogging Techniques We Tried

Before we turned to our readers for help, we tried several tricks that didn’t dislodge our clog. These techniques are still great things to try and they may be enough to clear less stubborn clogs than ours. They can also work for clogs in kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, and shower drains. But for us, they didn’t make much of a difference.

• Fishing around with our fingers dislodged a decent-sized hairball (or what John affectionately called a Sherr-ball) but didn’t open the floodgates.
• Plunging released a few more items we’d rather not have seen again, but still no change in water level.
• Even our 25 foot-long drain snake (sometimes also called an auger or plumber’s snake) was a waste of time (though we had low expectations for it anyway).
• So then we tried a pot of boiling hot water, which was the trick that had saved our kitchen sink last year. After five attempts we had only succeeded in adding more water to our tub.
• Natural clog removing solution: a half-cup of baking soda followed by a cup of white vinegar. We did that, watched our little drain volcano foam and fizz, let it sit for five minutes, then flushed it with a gallon of boiling water. Still no luck. Even our second attempt provided no relief, just more science project flashbacks.
• I also tried this $3 As Seen On TV quality Zip-It tool referred to us by a friend on Facebook. It didn’t yield anywhere close to the disgusting results shown in this video about it, which we were half grateful for and half frustrated by.

How We Unclogged Our Bathtub

Here are the steps we took that finally clear our bathtub drain. We’re sure some of the obstructions removed above helped, but this was the process that finally got our water draining quickly again!

Step 1: Remove standing water

If there’s any standing water in the tub, use a bucket, towels, or a large sponge to empty the tub as much as possible. I dumped the water into the nearby toilet and it periodically flushed itself- fun!

Step 2: Unscrew the overflow cover

Use a screwdriver to remove the overflow cover under the faucet and pull out the metal coil to inspect it for any hair or junk. Remove any debris. If the coil is clean, like ours, don’t fret. If you don’t have an overflow valve skip to step 4.

Step 3: Plug the overflow

Shove a wet washcloth into the overflow drain opening under the faucet. This will keep any pressure that you’re about to apply to the drain from escaping.

Step 4: Plunge the drain

Use a toilet plunger over the drain and plunge the drain like it’s your job. If your washcloth comes loose, shove it tightly back into the hole to keep the air from escaping. A tight seal is key. If you have a spare person around they can help by holding the washcloth in place to keep the seal nice and tight.

Step 5: Keep Plunging!

After about 40 plunges without progress almost made me give up. But I let the idea of showering in 5″ of stagnant water motivate me to keep going. After a dozen or so more strong plunges, I heard the glorious sound of the drain gurgling. I may or may not have gotten misty-eyed at the sight of the swirling water.

Step 6: Replace the overflow cover

Screw the overflow cover back into place and call all of your friends to brag about your newfound plumbing skills.

Bonus Step: Baking soda + vinegar

This may be overkill, but as a precautionary method to clear any remaining gunk, we repeated the baking soda trick. We poured half a cup of baking soda and a cup of white vinegar down the drain (we only had apple cider vinegar and it worked like a charm). Let it sit for five minutes and then flush everything down with a gallon of boiling water. This time everything should be whisked right down the drain like a flume ride at an amusement park. It might be the best moment of your life.

And that’s all it took. Zero dollars, zero chemicals, and zero manpower (lady power all the way). We hope you have similar success with these methods. But of course, we still recommend hiring an expert. We had a more complicated bathtub drain issue in one of our other houses and we couldn’t have solved it without a plumber’s help.

How To Prevent Clogs

As accomplished as this process made me feel, I’m in no rush to do ita gain. Here are some precautions we’ll be taking to prevent future bathtub clogs:

• We’ll be adding a mesh drain trap that blocks a lot more hair than our current metal plug
• I’ll be brushing my hair before each shower so more comes out before I step into the tub
• We’ll be using our little baking soda and vinegar science project as maintenance every month from here on out

Additional Clog Removal Ideas

Here are some of the many additional ideas our readers suggested that you can try if none of the tricks above work for you. We didn’t try these ourselves, so we can’t vouch for how well they work.

• Pour a bottle of Dawn dish detergent down the drain and let it sit to break up grease
• Use a wire hanger to fish around for the clog
• Shoot CLR Plumber right into the drain (it’s a can of pressurized air or gas that can blast out the clog)
• Try Drain-o, Thrift, Liquid Plumr, Paqua, or Instant Power Hair Relief products with varying levels of chemicals to dissolve it. Be sure to always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Dump Nair into the drain to eat up the hairball
• Pour a two-liter bottle of Coke down the drain so it erodes the clog
• Try the Kleer Drain from Home Depot to blast out the blockage
• Use a drain balloon or along with a garden hose to get things moving again
• Use a drain claw to grab and dislodge debris
• Remove the trap in the basement/crawl space to get rid of the clog & snake the drain from that angle
• Check the vent pipe on the roof to be sure it’s not clogged with debris (air flow helps water flow)
• Ensure that the stopper valve didn’t fall closed deep inside the pipe, thereby blocking the water from draining
• Remove the overflow cover (on the side of the tub under the faucet) and pull out the spring and clean it of any hair/junk

Warnings: We’re not plumbers. These techniques may warrant additional research or professional input before trying. You should also consider the age and condition of your plumbing system before processing. We’ve heard harsh chemicals and solvents can damage newer PVC pipes. Also, if you have tried one of the more chemical fixes above (like Drain-O, Nair, Liquid Plumbr, etc) and eventually do end up calling in a professional, PLEASE tell the plumber which chemicals you’ve already tried to help them avoid nasty chemical burns!

Originally posted: October 29, 2009

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