Safe & Natural Ways to Help a Slow Bathtub Drain
- Apply suction to the clog with a plunger, which involves no chemicals at all. There must be enough water in the drain to provide suction, and you can seal overflow drain with wet rags. Seal the mouth of the plunger over the drain, and work the plunger up and down until the suction dislodges the clog. This safe and easy method of clearing the drain also works on sinks that have become clogged as well.
- Use the agitation caused by baking soda and vinegar to disrupt the drain. Pour 1/4 cup of baking soda down the drain followed by 1 cup of white vinegar. Then pour a kettle full of hot water down the drain. Allow the solution to sit for 15 minutes before running water down the drain. If the drain is still slow to drain, plunge it. Ideally, the baking soda and vinegar reaction removes the clog or at least loosens it so that it can be flushed away.
- Sodium carbonate is also known as washing soda, and it can provide a natural method to clear out bathtub drain clogs that are mostly hair. The sodium carbonate dislodges the hair clog. To use sodium carbonate, pour 1 cup down the drain, and pour 1 gallon of boiling hot water down the drain. Wait for half an hour, and the drain should be clear.
- Prevention is the best cure for a constantly clogging drain. Use a mesh trap to keep soap scum and hair from going down the drain, and ensure that your children know not to stick things down the drain. On a regular basis, clean out the trap and reach down into the drain to fish out any stray hairs that might have found their way down there.
