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Amethyst

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help! shower drain problem!
Sep 22^nd, 2004 at 7:27pm

I'm posting in the interests of marital harmony. I don't think I lose any more hair than the average person (I am about waist length). However, we have a chronic problem with hair in the shower drain. Note that our home is vintage (late 1800s) and while I am sure the pipes are at least somewhat modern, I'm sure they aren't the same as ones that would be installed today.

We remodeled our bathrooms last year. Under the old regime, when I showered, I pulled out the . . . not sure what it called. The plug? The thing that holds the water in for a bath. I then put a white plastic thing into the drain that sat on the enamel and had a sieve in the center to catch hair. In the new bathroom, however, the fancy new plumbing does not allow me to pull out the plug readily. Something is causing problems with the drain and I admit that it does appear to be my hair. My dh is totally not happy with me as he has to deal with the problem. I brush thoroughly beforehand and CO wash twice a week. The only other thing I could think of is to wash more often so as to spread out the shedding hairs and hopefully not create a clog. But I don't want to do this!

Help! My dh was seriously crabby last night after a bout with a wire hanger and some Draino.

C.

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bikerbraid

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Re: help! shower drain problem!
Reply #1 - Sep 22^nd, 2004 at 7:42pm

Trying to keep the hair from going down the drain is a good idea. You might try placing a piece of thin fabric over the drain which would catch the hair. You might need to weight the fabric down a bit on the edges. If you have a metal based tub, magnets can be used.

Another trick I used to use - I placed a scrubbie over/in the drain. This would catch the hair before it could get down the drain. Just be sure the scrubbie is heavy enough. I've used metal ones, but a plastic one would work if there was a bit of weight on top of it. They allow the water to flow through, but not the hair (or bars of soap, or water toys).

[Glad to see you come out of lurk-mode!]

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bikerbraid
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flaming bunny Emerald Offline Gothic Beauty Posts: 374 magical forest in England Gender:	Re: help! shower drain problem! Reply #2 - Sep 22^nd, 2004 at 7:44pm hello! i LOVE your name...tis cute! you could get one of those hair catcher thingys. i think they go over the plug hole and catch all the stuff that shouldnt go down the drain. i hope im not imagining this device...someone come and back me up!
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Rua

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no."

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Dublin, Ireland
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Re: help! shower drain problem!
Reply #3 - Sep 22^nd, 2004 at 7:56pm

Quote:

you could get one of those hair catcher thingys. i think they go over the plug hole and catch all the stuff that shouldnt go down the drain.
i hope im not imagining this device...someone come and back me up!

No, you're not imagining it! I have a few of those around the house for my own drains. Especially now that I've been sheddin so much and the amount of hair I've been pullin out of the drain lately would put a full grown cat to shame.

They are wee plastic or metal things. Like a mini-sieve that fits over the top of the drain. Very cheap to buy! Very handy! Wink

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cupcake

Amethyst

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Re: help! shower drain problem!
Reply #4 - Sep 23^rd, 2004 at 2:23am

Thanks -- I am not alone! The new fancy plumbing in our redone bath does not allow me to take out the plug readily to use one of the plastic drain thingys that sit in the drain like I used to use. However, I hunted around and found a stainer that attaches with suction cups to the tub.

http://www.alwaysbrilliant.com/aa/aspx-products/pid-291/pd-a39890/bb/p.htm

I figure that if the cup part faces down (requiring removal of the plug, which cannot be easily done), I can hopefully turn around the suction cups so I can use it. I will duly report back on: (1) the success of the strainer; and (2) how crabby my dh gets (will be directly proportional to the amount of angst it takes to get the drain flowing well).

From looking around for a strainer solution, it is clear that hair in the drain is a big problem even for non-long hairs. Apparently, it can create a long clump in the drain that decomposes (ICK ICK ICK) and causes problems like we've been having. If that is the case, crabby is not going to be strong enough to describe my dh.

Moral of the story: I should have thought of this when we were picking out our gorgeous yet impractical (bc the stopper is not readily removable) tub fixtures. Yet, they are so attractive! (Polished nickel exposed plumbing with a large rainforest shower head). And the
the rainforest is so great for rinsing my hair, which I DID think of.

Sigh.

C.

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Rua

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Dublin, Ireland
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Re: help! shower drain problem!
Reply #5 - Sep 24^th, 2004 at 8:43am

ICK is right! I have gotten that in my drain before too, before getting the wee sieves. The worst part of it is, (and I dunno if you've had this problem, as our bathroom is very small) that it begins to smell if left there for too long. ICK ICK ICK ICK ICK!!!

It took me an age to figure out that was what the smell was coming from. I just assumed that hubby had used the loo just before I went in or something. LOL

I had to pull as much of it out as possible, and then I dumped this brilliant stuff called "Sink Fresh" (or as hubby calls it, "Stink Fresh") that breaks down all organic material and cleans out your sink drains. I think it's better than Drano. Sink Fresh made my plugs so clean you could virtually eat out of them. NOT that you EVER would, mind you. LOL

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'I'm a trusting soul at best, but not to a fault.'

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Kate Emerald Offline Posts: 328 Linköping, Sweden Gender:	Re: help! shower drain problem! Reply #6 - Sep 24^th, 2004 at 12:58pm I'm with you, Rua. Cleaning the drain is my boyfriend's job - I'm not about to fool around with it. However, since he doesn't do it often enough to suit me, I sometimes pour sodium hydroxide down the drain and let it sizzle away for a while. It eats through anything organic, and is environmentally-friendly /Kate
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Rua Emerald Offline "Soft, yes. Weak, no." Posts: 341 Dublin, Ireland Gender:	Re: help! shower drain problem! Reply #7 - Sep 24^th, 2004 at 7:13pm It's good you've got yer hubby to do it, Kate. The last few times, I've done it myself....I'm afraid my love would be traumatized if he saw how much hair was cloggin our drain and have nightmares for weeks. I know I have.
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bikerbraid

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Re: help! shower drain problem!
Reply #8 - Sep 24^th, 2004 at 7:53pm

Having a hubby/bf/SO to clean the drains is wonderful. But make sure you let them know how much you appreciate them! I recently over-heard my hubby discussing a recent drain cleaning with a neighbor. As he described the glop that he pulled out (as the result of TWO people with hair longer than BSL living in the house), I realized how much he must love me

He also mentioned recently that the drains seem to be doing much better now that our DIL is no long living with us. I guess that means I shed less than her!!

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bikerbraid
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Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.&&Life may not

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Babyfine

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Re: help! shower drain problem!
Reply #9 - Sep 24^th, 2004 at 8:03pm

Then theres the vacuum cleaner! I pulled a lot of my
hair when it was long before out of the roller. It was
causing to vacuum to jam up and smell. I make sure
I now only comb/brush my hair in the bathroom where
there is no carpet. I was complaining about this to
a neighbor. I said I'll have to quit combing my hair
over the rug. He said, " Or you could just quit vacuuming" Grin

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Anais Satin Stardust Offline Tailbone in March 2006, classic in March 2007 Posts: 1265 Bill Gates' backyard, WA Gender:	Re: help! shower drain problem! Reply #10 - Sep 25^th, 2004 at 6:44pm What other appliances have you folks gotten shedded hair stuck in? I remember the air purifier.. That was interesting. And definitely the vacuum, the clothes dryer, the washing machine (Well, that's not so bad. All the hair in the washing machine sticks to the clothes and transfers to the dryer)...
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Rua Emerald Offline "Soft, yes. Weak, no." Posts: 341 Dublin, Ireland Gender:	Re: help! shower drain problem! Reply #11 - Sep 25^th, 2004 at 7:57pm For me it's been mainly the shower drain and the hoover. Once, when I was young, I got my hair caught in an older hairdryer (the part that sucks the air in.) OUCH! It's NOT pleasant! I was a bit of an eejit, and wasn't payin attention to what I was doin when it happened. Burning hair smell isn't very nice.
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Gollan

Amethyst

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Ottawa, Canada
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Re: help! shower drain problem!
Reply #12 - Sep 25^th, 2004 at 8:16pm

I solved the problem of my hair clogging up our old bathtub plumbing by first clearing the pipes with *several* applications of Liquid-Plumr Pro (sic). Once a month I apply Liquid-Plumr Foaming Pipe Snake. This treatment has completely eliminated the slow and clogged drain caused by my... uh... shedding. BTW, the drain plug usually unscrews counter-clockwise.

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Cairn

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Re: help! shower drain problem!
Reply #13 - Sep 26^th, 2004 at 2:26am

Quote:

What other appliances have you folks gotten shedded hair stuck in?

I once got a Barbie doll's hair stuck in one of the air jets in a hotel jaccuzi; I pulled on it and the head popped off. It was sad. Sad

Umm...anyway...I've never had major hair-cloggage problems, besides occassionaly having to clean out the vacuum or shower drain, but nothing too bad. I've also fished a good number of hairs out of the washing machine after doing the wash.

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Kate Emerald Offline Posts: 328 Linköping, Sweden Gender:	Re: help! shower drain problem! Reply #14 - Sep 26^th, 2004 at 8:37am Quote: He said, " Or you could just quit vacuuming" takes note Problem solved! Excellent! /Kate
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