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Melanie needs help!
My mane is a formidable opponent to my shower drain. After a few weeks of hair washing my nightly showers turn into shaths — that uncomfortable combination of showering and wading in backed up bath water.
I feel like I’m doing a great disservice to the environment by reaching for the Drano, and often envision a whale keeling over when I use it. I was wondering if any Homies have some proven natural concoctions for drain unclogging.
I feel like I’m doing a great disservice to the environment by reaching for the Drano, and often envision a whale keeling over when I use it. I was wondering if any Homies have some proven natural concoctions for drain unclogging.
I have one, but you need a REALLY STRONG STOMACH to use it.
Get a Zip It — a little plastic thingie with teeth. Stick it down your drain and wriggle it around until it catches all the hair. Pull it up. Resist urge to hurl. Also resist urge to throw the entire thing away — clean it off, and toss the hair. Following up with lots of hot water down the drain helps loads, too.
I’ve heard lots of tales of eco-friendly baking soda concoctions made to clear drains, but I’ve never gotten one to work. Anyone? Have a success story?
The most eco solution I know for this – get a sieve/net thingy for your drain (at the hardware store, I’d assume). Simply clean that out every time/every other time/however often you’re comfortable with. We’ve got one, and I never ever drano our drain.
Just an FYI – Drain-o is not only bad for the environment, but it also burns holes in your pipes.
I had a landlord who was also a plumber and he wrote it into his lease that the tenants were not allowed to use draino in the apartment because he was tired of replacing holey pipes.
I use a hair catcher that you can buy in stores, but if I forget to use it I can always use a crochet hook to do pretty much the same thing as the Zip-it. Still gross, but it works!
Second the crochet hook! Just used one tonight – disgusting, but effective.
I have a lot of thick, curly hair. I use a small craft hook to dig out all the hair (I know, ew, but it works), and follow that with a mix of 1/2 c. salt and 1/2 c. baking soda, washed down with a full kettle of boiling water, and left to sit for fifteen minutes.