With about five percent of a person s hair follicles in a shedding mode at any given time, there is a chance for drains to become clogged with hair. When it happens, the use of a safe hair removal drain cleaner is recommended to save wear and tear on the plumbing as well as the accidental acid burns to the skin.
Typically, clogs due to hair are confined to the bathtub or the bathroom sink, but they aren t exclusively confined to them. However, when one of those two drains start to run slow or come to a complete stop, there will be an urgency to clear the clog as quickly as possible. Using a household safe hair removal drain cleaner should be the first step in the process, as most of the time they have chemicals to dissolve oil and hair and can get the clog moving through the drain. However, sometimes there are more aggressive measures needed to clear a hairy clog from the drain.
Using stronger, acid-based drain cleaners should be left to the professionals as having this liquid splash onto a person s face can cause serious skin damage. While using a plunger is considered to be a safe hair removal drain cleaner method, using one with harsh chemicals could cause the chemical to splash back up the user. Using the plunger alone is fine, but it should not be used with chemical or acid drain cleaners.
More Invasive Measures May Be Needed
If the clog turns out to be exceptionally stubborn, unmoved by plunging and unmotivated by safe hair removal drain cleaner chemicals, the trap in the drain may have to be removed. Before taking that step, it may be wise to send a plumber s snake or a wire coat hanger into the drain to see if the clog is reachable. If so, the clog may be removed with the snake or urged to move further down the drain by the hanger.
When removing the trap, make sure there is container to catch any water that will escape from the upper pipe, or have a mop handy to clean it up. Once removed, if the clog is in the trap, the job is done. If there is no clog visible, attacking the clog with a snake heading away from the sink is probably a safe hair removal drain cleaner approach. For those with no plumbing experience and little ability to use hand tools it may be cheaper in the long run to hire a drain cleaning professional to open the line.