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Are you one of those people who just get sick and tired of clogged drains? Do you hate it when the water just keeps filling up and you have to get to do the dirty work and spend hours trying to unclog your drain? There are many reasons as to drains getting clogged and hair is one of the top reasons.
Let’s look at how we can tackle this situation and find out what’s the best drain cleaner for hair. You might be wondering as to what’s the best drain cleaner for hair, well… wait. There is not just one solution but a myriad of solutions which you can try your hand at, but first, let’s look at why our drains get clogged in the first place.
It’s a messy thing and when you don’t have the time or the money for a plumber, you need to get down to business and wear your own plumber’s hat. In fact, 90% of the times you don’t even need to call up a plumber if you know these hacks, tools and products. If hair is the only problem, chances are you will easily figure out what’s the best drain cleaner for hair.
Why do drains get clogged?
Almost everybody has been faced with the clogged drain conundrum. You just can’t miss it, unless you don’t use the sink or the bathroom. The drains get clogged after weeks, months and even years of accumulated mess. This includes grease, grime, dirt, product build up, hair and stuff flushed down the toilet which should be thrown only in the trash cans. So what can you do about it? We can look at how to successfully clean the drain and in the process, you can know what’s the best drain cleaner for hair.
Where do hair come from?
Before we delve into revealing that what’s the best drain cleaner for hair, we should know how, why and where the hair come from, causing the clogging in the drains. Most likely hair is always clogged in the bathtub/ shower drain. It’s a common fact that people lose up to a 100 strands of hair every day. 2 of those main reasons include brushing hair or in the shower.
People who have long, thick or curly locks of hair, when shedding hair in the shower, can cause a clogging within weeks if they aren’t really careful. Although fine hair people can also cause it, but that takes comparatively a longer time. Bald people can rejoice, as this problem will never occur for them. Pets also play a huge part in draining the clog if you bathe them regularly in the bath tub.
Cats and dogs are infamous for shedding their hair/fur. If you can afford a pet cleaning and grooming service every now and then, it will save you the hassle. If you can’t and want to save some money, then you bathe your pet in the backyard with a garden hose.
Hair is the most common example of items that clog drains. But preventing loose strands of hair from going into the drain hole during showering is a little tricky for many reasons. First, hairs don’t clog drains until a huge ball of hair has formed and second because hair fall is inevitable.
The problem worsens during fall and winters when human hair naturally tends to fall. Now imagine the accumulation of hair of three to five people in the house using the same shower. You shouldn’t be surprised to find a clogged drain, but be surprised if you don’t find one.
Figuring out what’s the best drain cleaner for hair
There are many options as to how to unclog your drain from hair and what works for one person, may not necessarily work for the other. But chances are almost all of these solutions will work for you. Hair is something almost every loses in the shower or bathtub unless they are bald so this situation can’t ever be avoided. Here are the top ways to clean your drain and figure out finally as to what’s the best drain cleaner for hair.
1. Baking Soda + Vinegar
This is one of the best and cheapest home remedies to a clogged drain as it just uses everyday items from the kitchen. Just mix 1/3rd of a cup of vinegar and 1/3rd cup of baking soda together in a measuring cup. Since it will fizzle as soon both of these items come into contact with one another, you should pour it immediately down the drain. The action of the fizzle will help get rid of the grime, gunk, and hair which has built up and accumulated over time. After pouring this mixture, wait for a minute or 2 then you should pour hot water down the drain.
2. Salt and baking soda
This yet another hack delivered straight from the kitchen and uses everyday items. Baking soda is a universal hack master because it’s usually used in so many remedies. Just mix half cups of baking soda and table salt together. Pour that mixture down the drain and leave it in for 15-20 minutes and then wash it off with boiling water. The baking soda, salt, and boiling water creates a chemical reaction which should be able to finish the nastiest of blockages in a drain.
3. Dry and wet vacuum
It’s always good to invest in a good liquid vacuum. It’s a great gadget once you get the hang of it. Set the mode to liquid vacuuming and create a very tight seal for the drain. For this purpose, you should also get a plunger to help you. By doing so, you should be able to grab all sorts of nasty gunk which is clogged down the drain. This doesn’t always work but if you want to know what’s the best drain cleaner for hair then its worth trying.
4. Bent wire hanger
This is a surprising yet simple enough home hack which you can try. Take any wire coat hanger and try straightening it to the best of your abilities. Bend it so that there’s a hook-type shape at the end of it. Start fishing by pushing it through the drain.
All the filthy grime will latch onto it. It’s advised to wear rubber gloves to avoid touching any dirty things. When you have taken out the things, then you should run hot water down the drain so that it clears any remaining gunk out the drain and clear out the drain nicely.
5. Caustic soda
Caustic soda (aka Sodium Hydroxide) is a strong chemical so always wear protective gloves and some eye protection so as to prevent any chemical burns on your skin. You can get it from your local hardware store but always be careful when using it. The method is to take a mop bucket and pour ¾ gallon of water in it and then add 3 cups of caustic soda to it. Then you should stir it well with a used and old wooden spoon. It will start to heat up and fizz. Pour the mixture into the clogged drain for about 20-30 minutes. Then you should flush the drain with r=steaming water. Repeat if required.
6. Boiling water
This is the simplest and easiest solution to all the ones out there. Just fill up the kettle with water and remove from stove after it boils. Then pour all of the water down the drain but in 3 stages. This should allow the boiling water to work for many seconds between each pouring. This is an effective and quickest method to unclogging all stuff from your clogged drain. If there is some water remaining in the kettle, reward yourself with a cup of hot tea or coffee for doing a good job.
7. The drain snake
This is has got to be one of the best drain cleaner for hair. Not only is it a low budget item but its low tech as well. It makes all the cleaning and unclogging so easy. It’s basically a long and flexible metal rope with a metal spiral at the end of it. You use this tool to clean out the entire gunk including troublesome hair.
8. Dish detergent
Pour a ¼ cup of dish detergent in a bowl, mix it up in some boiled water (this boiled water is making regular appearances in every solution). This mixture will act like a lubricant and help to clear any greasy residue and hair which are stuck down the drain. Then start plunging afterward. If a plunger doesn’t work, it would be time to get your hands dirty so wear those rubber gloves and get down to business.
9. Cleaning the pipe
Put an empty bucket below the U-shaped pipe underneath the sink. The water that will spill will then be collected in the bucket. Take a plumber’s wrench and loosen up the slip nuts on both ends of the pipe. You should be able to easily execute this manually.
When the U-shaped pipe is free, you should remove it and turn it upside down and empty all of the contents inside the bucket. It is better to also fish for some remaining debris and to also do the same with the other pipes as well which were holding the U shaped pipe. Clean it using an old tooth brush as it will immensely help in taking out the gunk and grime. After that, rinse the U-shaped pipe with water and assemble it back together.
In most cases, this is the best trick to take all of the nasty stuff clogging your drain. It is most likely the best drain cleaner for hair as well.
10. Gravity, pressure & the good ol’ baking soda + vinegar combo
Hair is the top reason your bath drain always get clogged because there is no other object that goes down there more than the hair. So you always ask yourself what’s the best drain cleaner for hair? Well, this is probably one of the best ones out of many. It’s an advanced version of tip #1.
Just mix up some baking soda into vinegar, pout it down the drain and the cover it by the stopper. After about an hour, you should fill the bath tub with water and then remove the stopper. The immense pressure of so much water will be enough to remove the blockage that has been aided by the vinegar and baking soda mixture. For the finishing touches, try using tools such as the drain snake some plunger in conjunction with the pressure of the water.
11. Bleach
So after all of the tips, tricks and home remedies to remove hair from the drain are done, it’s time to talk about upping your unclogging the drain game. Bleach. That’s right; this might be your answer to know your question of what’s the best drain cleaner for hair? Did you know that bleach can dissolve the hair? Because hair is acidic and bleach is a basic chemical, together they create a neutralization reaction. So a little bit of 8th grade chemistry comes into play here.
When an acid and a base chemical are combined, the chemical reaction that takes place makes them turn into salt and water. Therefore any fiber that has acidic properties will be dissolved if bleach is used on it. So next time when you have any drain in your house which is clogged, be it the sink or the shower/bathtub, just pour a cup worth of liquid bleach down the drain. It will work wonders by quickly and effectively dissolve everything which comes its way.
Be sure to first rinse off any metal finishes with some water otherwise they might get damaged with the bleach. After you have poured the bleach, wait for about half an hour, by this time all of the hair will be dissolved. It doesn’t get any easier and better than this. If this doesn’t work the first time, which is highly unlikely, do it again after a few hours and that should do the trick. Liquid bleach is always cheaper than the bottled drain cleaners and it is always the most effective for hair clogging the drain.
Caution: Always be careful and wear gloves and protective clothing when you are handling chemicals of any sort and children should steer clear whenever you are fixing the drain.
If all else fails then instead of putting bleaches, baking soda mixes and plunging the drain to exhaustion you should always call the plumber because these things might things worse for you or you might end up hurting yourself or damaging the drain more than it already is.
12. Drain cleaners
Ok so we have discussed all the hacks, tips and tricks to unclog your drain from all the nasty hair balls which are causing the stoppages and making your bath time suck. Now, it’s time to bring in the big guns. When everything is just too mild, nothing seems to work and you don’t want to spend money on a plumber really soon, then this is the last resort and your biggest weapon.
This is the answer to your bath time woes. This is the answer to what’s the best drain cleaner for hair? You might be wondering what is a drain cleaner? Well it is a powerful unclogging agent, stronger than bleach and comes in liquid, gel or powder form. It has very strong chemicals which unclog the drains in a jiffy.
Since all the chemical reactions involve electrons, the drain cleaners create an exchange of electrons with the clogging substances and generate a heating process. This process in turn, dissolves all the gunk, grime, dirt and hair which are blocking the water to go through.
There are a variety of drain cleaners available in the market
- Caustic drain cleaners
They contain substances such as caustic potash and lye. They give electrons to the clogging substances because they are bases and so the hydroxide reactions clears up the blockages. These drain cleaners are thicker than water; therefore it enables them to reach up to the clog through the water.
- Oxidizing drain cleaners
They contain substances such as peroxides, nitrates and household bleach. The chemicals mentioned in these types of drain cleaners cause the material clogging the drain to be oxidized by losing their electrons. These types of drain cleaners are also heavier than water and can reach through standing water and unclog the drain.
- Acid drain cleaners
They aren’t typically found in stores, and they are mostly sold to plumbers only. Due to the high concentrations of chemicals in them, they are used for heavy duty clogging spaces like drainage sewers etc. They remove the toughest of the grease, gunk and grime and are not recommended for household use.
So now that you know all the solutions to your clog woes, your bath time clogging days are over and you know which is the best drain cleaner for hair.