Is your drain clogged with hair? Many homeowners face this annoying trouble with their plumbing systems. It could be a good idea to ask a plumber to come and check what is going on with your drain or drain pipes.
Sometimes, you may be able to unblock a hair clog in your drain. Knowing how to unclog hair from a drain using items you already have at home is an invaluable skill. It can help you save time and money by preventing recurring problems in the future.
Next time the water in your sink, bathtub or shower is not draining properly, there are ways to unclog the drain and save the day. Let’s learn how to unclog hair from the drain.
1. Use a vacuum
If you think the hair clog is not too far down the drain, you might be able to suck it out of there with a vacuum. If you own a wet/dry vacuum, now is a good time to use it.
If you don’t own a wet/dry vacuum, you might still be able to unclog hair from the drain with a regular vacuum. Just remove the drain stopper, then wait for the water to go down and for the drain to be as dry as possible.
Use a nozzle attachment, put it down the drain as far as it will go, then start your vacuum at the highest setting. You can then stop the vacuum and remove the nozzle from the drain before checking if the water now drains normally.
2. Get a snaking device or make your own
If you own a plumber’s snake, you can use this convenient device to fish out the slimy hairball clogging your drain. But if you don’t own a snaking device, you can make your own.
The easiest way is to grab a wire hanger and unwind it to get a long piece of wire. Keep the hook at one end of the wire, but make it small enough to insert it down your clogged drain.
Slowly push the hook down the drain while twisting it around. The hook should be able to catch the hair clog, and all you will have to do is bring it up and throw it in the trash. Problem solved!
3. Pour some boiling water down the drain
Hair clogs usually form when hair catches grease and soap scum as it goes down the drain. To remove the clog, in many cases, all you have to do is dissolve this buildup so it will keep going down the drain and disappear forever.
Boil some water in a pot or a kettle, then slowly pour it down the clogged drain. You might need to repeat the process a few times before your drain is unclogged and water normally drains again.
Just don’t use boiling water on PVC drain pipes: if that is what you have, use hot water instead.
If this tip did not work, try the next one before pouring boiling or hot water down the drain again.
4. Use some baking soda and vinegar
Have you ever used baking soda and white vinegar to clean a few things around your home? If so, you already know how these two products start to fizz when you mix them.
A fizzing mixture of baking soda and vinegar will act as a natural drain cleaner and might be able to dissolve and dislodge that annoying hair clog. Simply mix one cup of vinegar with half a cup of baking soda, then pour it down the drain.
Wait at least 20 minutes, and flush the mixture with boiling water. The hair clogging your drain should now be gone.
5. Use baking soda and salt
If you don’t have white vinegar in your pantry, you can try unclogging the drain with baking soda and salt instead. Mix a cup of baking soda with half a cup of salt, pour it down the drain, then leave it there overnight.
The mixture will work by breaking away the slimy buildup holding that hair clog together and killing bacteria.
In the morning, pour some boiling or hot water down the drain. This should finish breaking up the buildup and getting rid of that nasty hair clog.
6. Pour some bleach down the drain
If none of these tricks have worked, try using liquid bleach before you buy a bottle of chemical drain cleaner or call a plumber for help. It’s less expensive, and it should work just fine.
Just pour a cup of bleach down the drain, and wait. The bleach will react with the hair clog and dissolve it. After 30 minutes, pour hot water down the drain to see if the situation has improved. If the water still takes some time to drain fully, pour another cup of bleach down the drain and wait again.
If your drain remains clogged from hair, contact a plumber for assistance. This professional will get your kitchen sink in working order again!
