If you’re in the shower and suddenly your feet are in the water, it’s time to clean your shower drain! Hair and soap scum can slow down the water flow and make your shower drain smell bad. Maybe it is one of the dirtiest household chores, but these tips will help you out!
1) Use a Wire To Clean Your Shower Drain
Clogging is often caused by hair and soap scum. It is necessary to remove them. Shower drains are often too small to clean well by hand. Therefore, use a wire, coat hanger, or long skewer. They are cheaper than springs to unclog and are ideal for emptying shower drains.
2) Use Boiling Water
Boil 1-2 liters of water and pour it down the shower drain. This will dissolve and wash away oily soap scum. Do this before using other treatments to clean the shower drain: pouring boiling water will save you work.
3) Use a Plunger
Open the drain, place the plunger over the shower drain, and pump it with the plunger 10 times. Let the water run to see if the obstruction has been removed. Repeat if necessary.
4) Eliminate Sewage Air From the Shower Drain
If you smell sewage air coming from the shower drain, there may not be enough water in the tank, and the drain may be directly connected to the sewage system. Therefore, after cleaning the shower drain, rinse it well with water. Does the sewage odor persist? If so, there may be something wrong with the plumbing. Contact a plumber.
5) Have the Shower Drain Cleaned by Cleaners
You can leave this work to the experts. A cleaning lady can clean not only shower drains but also a variety of other household chores. This way, you can spend your time on other things. Try to find cleaners that best suit your needs.
6) Cleaning Shower Drains With Gloves On
Sludge from shower drains can be really putrid. Soap sludge and hair are all agglomerated and can smell very bad. It is best not to touch it with bare hands! Put on a pair of cleaning gloves, and cleaning the bathtub will suddenly become a lot less unpleasant.
7) Cleaning the Shower Drain With DIY Unclogging Products
You may not be able to empty the shower drain yourself, and you may need to use an unclogging product first. You can buy them, or you can prepare them yourself in an easy, cheap, and environmentally friendly way.
Mix 50 grams of baking soda and 80 milliliters of vinegar in a container and pour the fizzy mixture directly into the shower drain; let stand for one hour, then rinse well with hot water from the shower. Chemical drain cleaners are bad for your pipes and the environment, so use this product only if you have no other choice.
8) Use Coffee Bean Powder
The accumulation of soap scum and hair in the moist environment of a shower drain creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and mold. This can cause the shower drain to smell. Prepare a coffee pot and pour coffee grounds down the shower drain. This will degrease the drain and absorb odors.
9) Prevention Is Better Than Cure
The longer you wait to clean your shower drain, the dirtier it will get. Don’t put it off, and make sure it doesn’t get so dirty. Try to collect hair from the grates every time you shower; remove all hair and soap scum from the shower drain every two weeks.
Do you have any other tips? Share it with us in the comments below!
