There’s nothing quite like a relaxing bath, especially during the fall and winter months. On the other hand, nothing spoils your much needed me-time quite like a clogged bathtub drain. Hair, soap, and other debris can accumulate in your pipes over time. This build up can lead to slow draining and even complete blockages if left untreated. You can take preventive action to keep this from happening and ensure your bathtub is always ready to use.
Use A Bathtub Drain Cover
A drain cover is an inexpensive and easy to come by fixture that every bathtub should have. It acts as a sieve, allowing water to flow down your drain while capturing hair, grime, and even jewelry. Radiant plumbers often uncover tiny bath toys and plastic razor blade covers from the bathtub drain. A drain cover will prevent large pieces of debris from getting caught in your pipes. There is a wide variety of products on the market, including plastic and metal options. Whichever one you choose, make sure it has a screen that’s fine enough to catch obstructions. All you will have to do is periodically clean the drain cover by removing whatever’s caught in it and rinsing it outside. With a drain cover in place, nothing untoward will make its way down your drain, not even your rubber duckie.
Turn Up The Heat
A great way to loosen the scum and hair that could be caught in your bathtub drain is to pour down boiling hot water. We’re not talking about the just-right warm water you typically bathe with. We’re talking about scorching hot water boiled just short of evaporation. Use your kettle to heat up a gallon of water and pour it down your bathtub drain. Doing this every now and then will help prevent grime from building up in your pipes. If however, your bathtub drain is clogged, DIY solutions such as these might not cut it. Luckily, there are products on the market designed to take care of stubborn drains. We recommend an organic solution like Bio-Clean. It contains 100% all natural bacteria enzymes that will cleanse your pipes and restore flow in most cases.
Reassess Your Toiletries
We all have our go-to soaps and shampoos. We’ve been using them for years and they get the job done. We consider some to be essential to our bath time ritual. Not all toiletries are created equal, however. Some soaps and shampoos can stick to the lining of your drain pipes and cause obstruction. Limit the use of products containing oatmeal and chunks of exfoliating materials. The same goes for thick lotions. If it looks like it’s struggling to make its way down your bathtub drain, steer clear.
Other possible culprits include decadent TLC products such as bath bombs, salts and oils. When it gets tangled with hair, partially dissolved salts can get stuck in your bathtub drain, resulting in slow draining and clogs. Likewise, oils congeal when cold and pose a threat to the health of your home’s plumbing. Other bath bomb ingredients like confetti, flower petals, and glitter can also lead to blockages. The key here is observation. Inspect the area around your drain as well as your drain cover after using these types of products. Be prepared to take action at the first sign of build up.
Use Your Bathtub For Bathing Only
This is a tough one. We all love our canine companions and bath time can be an exciting ordeal for us and our pets. Your bathtub drain is not, however, designed to withstand copious amounts of dog hair flowing through its pipes. You’ll be glad to know that bath time is not completely off the table for all our beloved furry family members out there. Some breeds shed more than others. The number of dogs you own, their coat length, their size and frequency with which they need to be bathed should be taken into account. If your dog is groomed regularly, it’s less likely to shed a lot of fur once you turn the faucet on.
Once again, the key here is observation. Always have a drain cover installed when bathing your dogs. After bath time concludes, carefully inspect what got captured by your drain cover and determine what might have slipped through the cracks. For most owners, bathing their dogs in the bath tub every now and then does not pose a serious threat to the health of their bathroom drains.
If your bathtub is taking ages to drain, you might be past the point of preventative care. If this is your experience, it’s time to call a professional. Radiant is Austin and San Antonio’s #1 in plumbing and drain service. We’ve been serving local communities across Central Texas for more than 20 years. Our ever expanding service area covers Austin, San Antonio, and neighborhoods everywhere in between. If you need plumbing or drain service, you need it now.
