I dunno if this belongs in GQ or MPSIMS, but it isn’t a mundane issue for me. The bathtub drain in my bathroom drains very slowly. Whenever I take a shower, the water builds up until it’s around ankle-deep (or therabouts, depending on the length of the shower).
What is the best way to “speed up” the draining action? The tub is fiberglass, and I’m leery of pouring strong chemicals in there, since it might damage the tub. Is the fiberglass used for bathtubs made of sterner stuff than I think or is there some other way to unclog the drain?
You can try to use a stick of some kind and pry up some of the gunky hair and soap that’s built up in the drain. You can probably reach a lot of it with a letter opener of some type.
Failing that, you can try some other drain opening solutions at your local market. Some use some sort of substance that eats the gunk, it’s not as caustic as Drano.
Fiberglass shouldn’t be harmed significantly by Drano, at least not in the time period that it’ll be in your drain–and note that the drain itself is almost certainly made of metal, not fiberglass, which won’t be disturbed at all by sodium hydroxide (the major caustic chemical in Drano).
Remove the overflow cap from the side of the tub under the faucet, and make sure it is clear.
Next, reach in there with your fingers, and scratch around on the + shaped thingy in there. Likely, ypu will dislodge some hair. When it is dislodged, gently pull it and you will being to likely pull up more and more hair and blockage. Keep pulling at larger chunks until you have everything cleared.
Next, get a 2-liter plastic soda bottle, fill it with nice hot water, and sick it upsidedown into the drain, and give it a good hard squeeze. This will blast hot water under great pressure down the drain, and help dislodge any foreign gunk you can’t pick out.
If it still drains slowly, get a chemical drain cleaner, and carefully pour it into the drain in accordance with the instructions on the label. If you are careful, you can do this without touching the fiberflass with the chemical.
That should do it. If not, contact your local hardware store and ask about equipment that you can buyor rent to remove blockages.
I seem to recall some wonderful new foam-based drain cleaner that expands to fill an entire pipe and clean it all the way around. Look into that as well.
It depends how long it takes for the water to backup. If it happens within seconds, the clog may be close to the drain. If its longer, it may be farther down line, in that case you’d use a snake on an outside drain opening.
Or try something from the hardware store. Ask the guys there what to use they would know what you can use. A real hardware store, you know with real handy guys, that might cost you a buck or two more.
If it’s relatively new construction, the drain pipes are more likely to be PVC plastic than brass, but that stuff will still hold up to Drano or any similar household drain cleaner. Don’t worry about the pipes, but DO worry about your septic system (if that’s what you have) - that stuff will kill the “good” bacteria that do you-know-what (but they can be replaced). Also, if your house is relatively new, you more likely have a local clog than a general buildup of soap scum stuff you don’t want to know about. Having a fiberglass tub doesn’t prove your plumbing is new too, of course. An old house more likely has brass drain lines and built-up crud.
Either way, try Drano or something like it first. You don’t have to pour it into standing water; you can just pour it right into the drain after the water’s gone - that will get more of the stuff right onto the clog. If that doesn’t do anything noticeable, you have a clog somewhere and you could try to snake it out.
Another alternative is to use an enzyme cleaner. The cleaner actually has microorganisms that will eat the organic blockage (e.g. hair). You need to let it sit a day, and it doesn’t always work, but you may want to consider it.
First, pick out as much of the hair and gunk that you can. Then use a plunger on the drain. Same one as you use on the toilet, or buy a new one if you’re fastidious. The only trick is making sure you get a good seal. Otherwise you’ll just be pushing air through various tub fixtures rather than getting good suction on the drain. On our tub, I put a rubber stopper over the actual drain, and then put the plunger over the lever that controls the plug (which doesn’t work anyway.)
(Singing to a Foghat tune…)
Slow drain…take it easy!
I’d go with your ordinary commercial Drano or Liquid Plumber or whichever is on sale. I believe they are formulated to not harm surfaces, but I’d read the bottle to be safe.
Baloo, the tub has nothing to do with the drain. How old is the system? It may be so old, that the street pipes are made of clay/ceramics and plant roots grew in. If the cleaning does not help much or if clogging occures again, it may mean that the water does not drain fast enough and debris get a better chance to stick to any internal defects/imperfections and clog the system. A good plunger or an air-gun ($250-300 in pro plumbing supply) or a mechanical “snake” may help for awhile, but sometimes, the drainage pipes were not adeqately installed (e.g.,not enough “drop”). Then you face a major job. A plumber is expensive, so try whatever you are capable of doing yourself. Plumbers have good equipment (besides being pros), like electrical snakes. I’d advise you against using one yourself, even if you happen to get one, as if you ruin your (old/rusted) pipes… At least, if they ruin them, they will be responsible.
I don’t use chemical uncloggers because I don’t want to sterilize my septic tank, so here’s what I do. Take a big stock pot (bigger=better, to the extent that you can safely carry it when it’s full), and fill it with water. Put it on the stove, and bring it to a boil. Carefully pour the boiling water down the slow drain. Then take a plunger, and work it vigorously over the drain. Be careful…that water’s going to be hot.
I’ve used this and it does seem to be more effective than the traditional liquid drain cleaner. However, you can’t use it when you have standing water.