How to Unclog a Shower Drain with a Snake and Drano

Sometimes a drain that is emptying slowly is annoying, but it can also be a dangerous situation that leads to great expense. Our three year old daughter recently went to the bathroom at my mother's house and like a good little girl she washed her hands when she was finished. But! she didn't quite close the faucet all the way. The drain was partially clogged and the water began to overflow. In twenty minutes the water had seeped through the upstairs roof, down the stairs and through the walls causing tons of damage. While it's a good practice to teach kids to make sure the water is off, all of this damage could have been spared if the drain had been unclogged.

I've been successful at unclogging shower drains two ways. Both are low cost and can easily be attempted before needing to call a plumber. I've also found that these techniques tend to work well when the clog is near the opening of the drain.

The fist unclogging method to try is putting some hot water in the shower or sink and using a plunger. Similarly to unclogging a toilette, forcing water down the drain with pressure from the plunger can break the clog open and the drain will empty. The sink drain that was backed up that my daughter flooded the house with was unclogged with the plunger technique. I suggest trying this method first. if it doesn't work, try the second method.

The second method is to use a product designed for unclogging drains at home like Drano. While some people may be concerned about using chemicals in their shower, I've found that following the directions closely works extremely well for really badly clogged drains. Here is an example of a shower drain I unclogged with Drano and the Drano snake. First, the shower drain was running very slowly. We have lots of women that use the shower and they all have pretty long hair. I suspected that the hair was causing the clog.

To snake a drain out, run the snake with the prongs up down the drain as far as it will go. Pull and twist the snake back out of the drain and bring the debris up and clean it off.

Once the snake has been used on the drain, throw it out. Take the contents of the Drano bottle and empty the bottle into the drain. Drano is a clear substance that is kind of in a jelly form. Let it set in the drain for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes is up, turn the shower hot water on and let it run for a few minutes.

Once I turned the hot water on, the drain began to back up. I was getting a little disappointed that the product didn't work, but then I turned around and saw the shower had completely emptied and the water was quickly running down the drain. So give the hot water a few minutes to work once it's added.

*Disclosure: I was given a bottle of Drano Snakeplus as part of an advertising campaign. I took that product to test on the clogged drain.

At our house, the plumbing will back up from time to time. It's been caused because roots can penetrate drainage lines and toilette paper and sanitary napkins can get caught on them and back up the drain. When these major clogs come, it's a good idea to call a plumber. A plumber will have snakes that can run many feet and mechanically twist with sharp points that will disrupt the clogs.

Lastly, if the drain backs up and is leaking sewage through a drain on the street, many times the city will come and clean up the waste. This happens from time to time on our street. In our city, they don't charge the home owner when this happens, but if I called a private plumber, I'd have to pay.