Blog
Why shower drains clog, how to clear standing water and pull out the hair, and the steps to keep it draining.
Call (888) 217-5859A shower that fills with water around your feet is one of the most common drain problems there is, and the culprit is nearly always the same: hair. The good news is a shower clog sits close to the surface more often than not, so you can usually clear it yourself in a few minutes. Here is why it happens, how to pull the clog out, and how to keep the drain running.
Hair is the main offender. As it washes toward the drain it catches on the crossbars of the drain cover and on the pipe wall just below, then binds with soap scum, shampoo residue, and body oil into a dense mat. That mat grows and traps more hair until water can barely pass. Because it forms right under the cover, a shower clog is often within reach - which is why pulling it out beats pouring anything down.
Most shower drains have a cover or strainer you can take off. Some lift straight out, some unscrew with a single center screw, and some twist to release. Lever-style toe-touch and pop-up tub stoppers usually pull up or unscrew by hand. With the cover off, you can see and reach the clog directly, which makes the rest of the job far easier.
Work through these in order and most shower clogs come out:
If the shower is holding water that won't go down, don't pour in a chemical cleaner - it will sit in the water, reach the clog weakly, and leave a hazard behind. Bail out what you can, then use the hair strip and plunger, which both work through standing water. Once it starts to drain, follow with hot water. More on why chemicals are the wrong move here is in is Drano safe for your pipes.
It is tempting to reach for a bottle of drain cleaner, but on a hair clog these work slowly and can damage pipes, and they do nothing useful sitting on top of standing water. A hair strip or snake that physically removes the clog is safer and more dependable - the full comparison is in what dissolves hair in a drain.
If your shower clogs again within weeks, or the water barely moves even after you clear the cover, soap and grease have likely narrowed the pipe further down, or the clog is past where a home snake reaches. That is a job for bathroom drain cleaning, and for a solid blockage deeper in the branch, a plumber's drain snaking and rodding clears it. A drain that clogs over and over is worth clogged drain removal that finds the real cause rather than clearing the same mat each time.
Prevention is simple and makes a real difference here. A mesh hair catcher over the drain stops the hair behind nearly every shower clog, and emptying it after each shower keeps the drain flowing. A monthly flush of hot water, or baking soda and vinegar, keeps soap scum from building up. These habits are part of how to prevent drain clogs. In older South Suburb homes across Richton Park, Matteson, and Park Forest, original pipe that has roughened inside collects soap and hair faster, so a catcher and the occasional cleaning matter even more.
If a shower drain won't clear or keeps backing up, call and get connected with a local plumber - see all service areas or browse the blog.
Answers
Remove the drain cover, then pull out the matted hair just below the opening with a hooked tool or a barbed plastic hair-removal strip, which grips the clog and draws it out. For a clog deeper down, feed in a drain snake, and plunge if water is standing. Finish with hot water. Physically removing the hair works better than any product poured on it.
A slow shower drain is almost always partial hair buildup bound with soap scum just below the drain cover, narrowing the pipe before it blocks completely. Removing the cover and pulling out the clog usually restores the flow. If it stays slow afterward, soap and grease have likely narrowed the pipe further down the line.
It helps loosen the soap scum and light film around a clog, and with hot water it makes a fine maintenance rinse, but it does not dissolve hair, which is what most shower clogs are made of. Use it to loosen buildup, then pull or snake out the hair itself to actually clear the drain.
It is better avoided on a shower drain. Chemical cleaners work slowly on hair, can damage pipes with the heat they generate, and do nothing useful sitting on top of standing water. A hair-removal strip or a snake clears a shower clog more reliably and without the risk to your plumbing.
Do not add a chemical cleaner to standing water. Bail out what you can, then use a hair-removal strip and a plunger, which both work through water, to clear the clog. Once it starts draining, follow with hot water to flush the loosened residue away.
Put a mesh hair catcher over the drain to stop the hair that causes nearly every shower clog, and empty it after each shower. A monthly hot-water or baking-soda flush keeps soap scum from building up. These simple habits prevent far more clogs than any cleaner removes.
Call when the shower clogs again within weeks, when the water barely moves even after you clear the cover, or when other drains run slowly at the same time. Those signs mean the buildup is deeper than a home strip or snake reaches, where a plumber's equipment can clear it.
Call now to get connected with a local plumber who can clear a stubborn shower clog across Richton Park and the South Suburbs.
