Insane in the Blocked Drain (or how I learned to stop worrying and unblock my shower drain)

I love showers. That 'ahh' moment when you step inside. It's like embracing an old friend. I'm not so much a fan of the shower drain. Demanding. Ugly. It requires constant upkeep. Digging around scooping up hair, scunge and other nasties is a necessary evil of the blessed shower routine.

Once in awhile, however, things can escalate quickly. Suddenly you're finding yourself standing in ankle deep water. The sanctuary is polluted and it's time to act fast before the drains get more clogged than traffic outside a Justin Beiber concert.

Procrastinating me, I ignored the telltale warning signs: ankle deep water, slow draining, until I had a complete blockage. I couldn't turn the shower or basin on without water bubbling up from the floor drain.

Here are some things I found effective in my quest to avoid the costs of a plumber and retain my sense of single female empowerment:

• A wire coat hanger. 
• A bottle of 'Drain Clean' (I bought the liquid one specifically formulated for grease and hair blockages), purchased from Bunnings.
• My trusty kettle.

A Friendly Heads Up: You'll want gloves and something to dispose the "haul" into once it's freed. Safety first, people!

Method:

1: I straightened the coat hanger but left the hook. Then I inserted it into the shower drain (hook end down) and slowy fed it down the pipe as far as I could get it. I pulled it back up slowly and managed to land a disgusting mound of hair, moisturiser/soap residue. This took a few goes. #hairfishing

2: I poured the drain clean liquid down the shower drain, plus some down the sink and floor drains. The bottle stresses to follow instructions carefully. (I read this after not taking that very sage advice and using the entire 2 litres in one go- yipes!). 

3. After waiting an hour, I boiled the kettle and slowly poured the boiling water down the shower drain, the basin drain and a little down the floor drain. I could see the dislodged pockets of scum release into the floor drain. Satisfying and disgusting- #winning.

4. I repeated step 3, pouring boiling water slowly down the bathroom drain at 5-10 minute intervals. I did this 3-4 times (I'm nothing if not persistent and impatient).

It worked! Roughly 2 hours later, I noticed the water levels had lowered. Emboldened, I chanced turning on the shower. There was a bit of gurgling, one long blessed sucking sound and woosh- no more blockage! Man, I was relieved! No plumber, minimal expense and I could resume my daily ritualistic cleansing free of worry. I would've kissed that liquid drain clean- had I not known the caustic soda would've burned my lips off. #chemicalpeeltodiefor

Disclaimers and general pleading ignorance:

These tips are really for those who've managed to stuff their drains through inadvertently feeding them a steady diet of hair, shampoo/soap and moisturiser/makeup runoff. I live in an apartment, no septic tank, so you should factor in those things when deciding to try my suggestions. I'm no expert. I spent hours reading threads and watching youtube clips trying to get "good" advice. I discovered that those "help threads" are ironically named. For every success story of a "fool proof method", there were as many failures. In the end, I just solved it myself.

Stay curious about the world xx

Useful links: http://drainclean.com.au/drain-clean-solution/?iq=bs