AIBU to ask you what to put down the plughole?

[MrsTawdry]

Ever since we moved in here last Easter, the bath hasn't drained well. DH adjusted it...so that it was set at a correct angle but it only improved slightly. I bought some commercial drain unblocker which made NO difference.

The last owner had a lot of hair apparently so I can't help but boak slightly when I see my bath water sitting there....held in by potential masses of her hair down the pipe.

Is there some viciously good chemical I need?

I have not tried it but Veet cream down the plug hole has been recommended before.

Mr Muscle drain unblocker does the job for us

Not sure why this is in AIBU ........

Have you tried the Mr Muscle one in the orange bottle?

Alternatively, you could try those bendy drain rods to break up the blockage.

veet! Rat I never thought about that! I wonder how to do it?

Just I think that was what I tried before and nothing...

It just didn't work.

Bendy rods? Balcony where are they found? B&Q? Wilkos?

Just it's in AIBU because I want responses. I know it's not really the right area but tough.

Lakeland do an amazing on in a bottle with a blue label and top.Specially for bathrooms.You pop the whole bottle down at night and the next morning pour a kettle of boiling water down.It's amazing!! The ones you get from B&Q and the supermarkets are hopeless in comparison.

I have a rod too prob from pound land its OK Mr muscle worked better tho

We had a similar problem in the kitchen, the plumber we called used something called One Shot instant drain cleaner. Apparently you get it from builders merchant type places and it's very caustic, you have to be really careful when using it. It worked for us when Mr Muscle and the like made no difference at all.

Mr Muscle works fine here.

Caustic Soda is the winner in these situations. Dirt cheap from most hardware shops and it cuts through anything. Be careful tho as it is nasty stuff and you don't want it on your skin.

I had this problem and can second Veet. It's a bit of a faff, but I just squeezed a sachet down the plughole as best I could, left it for a while and then it drained really well.
Those long brushes are also really good- like a long and skinny bottle brush. Be prepared to retch though, as you pull up clumps of hair

The bath is plastic....would caustic soda melt it or something? I am going to buy the veet in a tube...squirt it down and leave....then boil it.....maybe I should visit the hardware too....I have a feeling there's the mother of all blockages down there. BLECH!

Get a plunger and give it a good plunge to loosen stuff. Then use some bathroom drain unblocker (they have it in Wilkos) and leave it for as long as you can.

Good old fashioned soda crystals with off the boil water from the kettle is great for drains and less toxic than a lot of the proprietary brands.

I like the Veet hair remover idea as well. Maybe dissolve some Veet in some boiling water so it's a solution, then put down the drain and leave for 30 mins, then do the soda crystals treatment afterwards

That may nuke it

Hi my girls have exceptionally long thick hair and I find a kettle boiling water followed by cup bio washing powder left over night then rinsed out with boiling water and then hot tap for few minutes. It doesn't smell chemically or burn or scratch but does seem to work. Unblocked drain too.

Use a little plastic plughole strainer thing over the hole when you shower or empty the bath in future. They are slightly faffy as you have to scoop your stray hair out of it each time you use it to put it down the loo, but nowhere near as unpleasant as getting a blocked waste pipe, having to remove and clean a trap etc.

I use one in the kitchen sink too, which can be emptied by just flicking it into the bin, no need to touch the gunk that collects in it.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-X-SMALL-WHITE-PLASTIC-KITCHEN-SINK-PLUG-WASTE-STRAINER-SINK-BLOCKAGES-1-1-2-/181488341093?pt=UK_Kitchen_Accessories&hash=item2a418c5065

My adult DS is exceedingly hairy - think African genes mixed in with heaven knows what else down the line - and we always have this problem. The ONLY thing that fixed it - and continues to fix it - is the Nair (I think it's Nair) extra strong one for thick hair. It's painfully expensive but still cheaper than the endless plumbers - we just squirt half a tube down the plughole and don't use the shower for at least half a day. It really does work!

It was like this when we moved in and the neighbour confirmed the girl who lived here before us had masses of very long, thick hair.

Unwind a wire coat hanger and poke it down, give it a wiggle to dislodge the blockage.

I had this problem in my shower - previous house owner had v long hair....

I bought a gadget from Lakeland - a long thin plastic stick with short bristles and one end. You push the stick down the plughole then twist round and round, so the hair gets caught up in the bristles.

Worked a treat, but

ProfYaffle has the solution - One Shot is marvellous stuff. We always have a bottle in for unblocking the shower (I moult lots when stressed!)

Get some One Shot as already advised above. It is the only thing that will work properly and you will be wasting your money on domestic strength cleaners. If its as bad as mine once was you will spend loads of money before trying the One Shot to no avail!

I've used an old curtain wire (the sort that you hang net curtains on) with the little hook on the end. which worked a treat on the shower drain when I had 2 DC and a DH - who all had long hair - using it...
It's really bendy, so you can twiddle it round and it collects all the hair - but have a lot of kitchen paper and a plastic shopping bag handy to seal it all into, as it is quite revolting when it comes up....

Looks like One Shot is easily available on eBay - I'll definitely be trying this as I've never really liked the idea of putting thick cream down the plughole. Thanks to Prof for the suggestion

Caustic soda is simple, cheap and effective. Wilko sell it.