How to Clean Shower Drain: Clear Hair, Smells & Slow Flow

Short version: a slow shower drain is almost always hair wrapped in soap scum, sitting just below the grate or in the trap beneath. Lift the cover, pull the clump out with a plastic hair tool or a gloved hand, scrub the grate and flush with hot (not boiling) water, and that fixes most of them. If the water still sits, soda crystals or a drain snake are the next steps, and a chemical unblocker is a last resort rather than a first move.

The rest of this guide covers how to tell what you are dealing with, the step-by-step clear-out, the gentler and stronger options in order, and the signs that mean the problem is further down the pipe and needs a plumber.

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Is the drain blocked, or just slow?

How long should a shower tray take to drain?

A healthy shower tray empties steadily while the water runs and clears within a short time after you turn it off. There is no official standard for this, but if water collects around your feet while you shower, or a puddle is still there a minute or so after you finish, the waste is partly blocked. Because most clogs build slowly, you may only notice when the tray is already struggling.

If more than one fixture is slow, skip ahead to the plumber section, because no amount of work on the shower drain will help.

What is actually in there

Under the grate, a shower waste drops into a trap, usually a bottle trap or a U-bend that holds a little water. That standing water is a seal that stops drain smells coming up into the room, and it is also the place where heavy things collect. Hair is the main culprit because it is strong, does not dissolve, and tangles into a mat. Soap is the glue. Modern soaps and shower gels leave a film of fatty residue, and in hard water areas that combines with limescale to form a sticky scum that coats the pipe and catches every strand that follows. Skin cells, conditioner and the odd bit of grit join in. A drain clogged this way is rarely one dramatic object, it is a slow layering, which explains why the symptoms creep up on you.

What to have to hand

• Rubber or nitrile gloves, because drain debris is unpleasant and may carry bacteria.
• A torch, ideally on your phone or a head torch so both hands are free.
• A screwdriver that fits the cover screws, if it is screwed down.
• An old toothbrush kept for cleaning, and a drop of washing-up liquid.
• A hair removal tool or a bent length of wire, and long-nosed pliers for gripping.
• A bin bag, kitchen roll and an old towel to kneel on or catch drips.
• Eye protection and good ventilation only if you move on to a chemical unblocker.

The quick fix: pull out the hair

Hair is the cause far more often than anything else, and removing it by hand is quicker and safer than pouring something in and hoping. You need gloves, a torch and something to lift the clump out with. A drain hair removal tool is a thin plastic strip with barbs along the edges, long enough to reach into the trap, and it grips hair without scratching the waste. It is cheap, reusable if you rinse it, and removes the clump in one pull. A bent coat hanger works as a stand-in, but it can scratch the plastic and tends to snag and lose the hair on the way up.

Cover types vary, which changes the first step. A flat stainless steel grate often lifts out with a fingertip or the tip of a screwdriver. A plastic cover may clip in and pop out with a gentle prise from one edge. A screwed cover has one or two central or corner screws. Some modern designs, such as linear channel drains, have a removable insert and a tray beneath. Take a photo before you dismantle anything, so you can refit it the same way. If you cannot work out how a cover comes off, check the shower manufacturer’s instructions, since forcing it may damage the tray.

1. Protect the area. Put on rubber gloves and have a bin bag open next to you. Shine a torch down the waste so you can see what you are dealing with.
2. Take off the cover. Many are simply lifted out. Others are held by one or two screws, so turn them anticlockwise and keep them somewhere safe. A cover stuck by soap scum may need rocking gently. Do not force it, because a cracked cover or damaged waste is an expensive error.
3. Remove the visible hair. Pull the clump up slowly and steadily, so it comes out in one piece rather than breaking and dropping lower. Gloved fingers or long-nosed pliers are fine for the top layer.
4. Go deeper with the tool. Feed the hair tool or hooked wire down into the waste, turn it once or twice to catch hair around the barbs, then draw it back up. Repeat until it comes up clean.
5. Scrub the cover and waste opening. An old toothbrush and a drop of washing-up liquid remove the greasy soap film that holds hair together. Rinse the cover and refit it.
6. Flush. Run the hot tap, not boiling water, for a couple of minutes and watch how quickly the tray empties.
7. Bag it and bin it. Put hair and debris in the bag, tie it, and put it in your general waste. Wash your hands, even though you wore gloves. Do not rinse it down a basin or sink, because that only moves the problem.

For many homes this is the whole job. If the water now runs freely, add a hair catcher (see the prevention section) so you are not back here in a month.

Check that it has really worked

Run the shower for a minute or two at normal flow and watch the tray. The water should leave at the rate it arrives, with no pooling and no gurgle. Check underneath the tray if you can reach it, in case disturbing the waste has loosened a joint. A smell that lingers after a clean-out can be the film on the trap walls, so run a soda crystal treatment then, and repeat the flush. If the drain starts to slow again within days, the clump was only part of the problem, so look further down with a snake or call for help instead of repeating the same fix.

A word on boiling water

Hot water from the tap helps dissolve soap and grease. Boiling kettle water is a different matter. Many shower wastes and traps are plastic, and boiling water can soften or distort plastic and stress the seals at joints, particularly in older installations. Use the hottest tap water instead, and if you need to pour from a kettle, let it cool for a few minutes first. That is a sensible compromise for most pipework, but if you are unsure what your waste is made of, stay with tap water.

Still slow: soda crystals, bicarbonate and washing-up liquid

If the hair is out and the drain is still sluggish, the remaining problem is usually a film of soap and body oils on the walls of the pipe, or a smaller clump out of reach. This is the territory of household cleaners. They are gentle, cheap and work best on slow drains, not on completely blocked ones.

Soda crystals

Soda crystals (sodium carbonate) are a mild alkali that cuts through grease and soap scum, and they are one of the more effective of the household options. Put on gloves, because they irritate skin and eyes. Dissolve about half a cup in a jug of hot tap water, pour it slowly down the drain, leave it for 30 minutes or so, then flush with plenty of hot water. Do not mix them with other cleaners, and do not use them in a drain you have treated with a commercial unblocker.

Washing-up liquid and hot water

For oily or conditioner-heavy build-up, squeeze two or three tablespoons of washing-up liquid into the waste and follow it with hot tap water. Leave it for ten to fifteen minutes and flush again. It is the gentlest option here and it is helpful as a follow-up to hair removal, because it loosens the film the hair was clinging to.

Bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar

1. Pour about half a cup of bicarbonate of soda into the waste.
2. Add a cup of white vinegar slowly. It will fizz.
3. Cover the opening loosely with a plug or damp cloth for around 15 to 30 minutes.
4. Flush with hot tap water for a couple of minutes.
5. Do not follow it up with a chemical unblocker. Flush plenty of water through first, and read the next section.

The fizz is mostly carbon dioxide and water, which loosens a little surface grime and freshens the drain but will not dissolve a hair clump. Our piece on whether baking soda and vinegar actually clean goes into why it is a mild treatment, and it is worth knowing before you rely on it for a real blockage.

Salt is sometimes added to these recipes as an abrasive. It dissolves quickly in water and adds little, so there is no good reason to pour it in, and it can contribute to corrosion of some metal parts over time.

Give each gentle method its full contact time, and do one at a time. Do not stack bicarbonate, vinegar, soda crystals and a commercial product in the same afternoon, because you cannot tell what worked and some combinations are unsafe. Rinse thoroughly between attempts. If two or three careful attempts leave the drain no better, the blockage is lower down than household products reach, and it is time to move on to a snake or professional help.

Reaching further: drain snakes, plungers and chemical unblockers

Drain snakes and augers

A drain snake is a flexible, coiled cable or plastic barbed strip with a handle, designed to travel round the bend of the trap and break up or hook out a clump you cannot reach by hand. For a shower, the short plastic types and small hand-cranked snakes are enough. Feed the end down until you meet resistance, turn the handle while pushing gently, then pull back slowly, wiping off what comes with it. A shorter cable is easier to control, and you are unlikely to need a metre or more for a shower waste. If you want to compare lengths and cable types, browse drain snake tools and choose one with a plastic or coated cable that will not scratch the pipe.

1. Remove the cover and clear the top layer of hair first, so the snake does not push it down.
2. Feed the end of the snake into the waste gently, turning it slowly so it follows the curve of the trap rather than jamming against it.
3. When you feel resistance, turn the handle or twist the strip a few times to hook or break up the clump, using light pressure.
4. Draw the snake back out slowly and wipe off what it brings with it. Repeat two or three times until it comes out clean.
5. Flush with hot tap water for a few minutes and watch the tray empty. Clean the snake with warm soapy water before storing it.

Stop if the snake will not advance, or if you feel it snag on something hard rather than soft. Forcing it can jam the cable or damage a joint. If you suspect the blockage is past the first bend or in a shared pipe, that is a job for someone with a drain camera.

Plunger

Sealing a sink plunger over the waste with a little water on top can shift a stubborn clump by pressure. Block the overflow if the tray has one, and cover the plunger with water. Push and pull steadily rather than violently, for a minute or so. This is a better use of a plunger than anywhere else in the bathroom, but never plunge after pouring a chemical cleaner, because corrosive liquid can splash back. For toilets the technique differs, and our guide to unblocking a toilet shows how.

Chemical drain unblockers: are they safe?

They can be effective, and they are widely sold for a reason, but they are also the riskiest option and they are the last resort in this guide. A typical drain unblocker is a strong alkali, usually sodium hydroxide, that dissolves hair and grease. Such products can burn skin and eyes, give off fumes, and may damage some metal parts or old pipework if used repeatedly. They are not suitable for every kind of waste, so check the label for shower and bath use, and follow it exactly.

• Wear gloves and eye protection, ventilate the room and keep children and pets away.
• Use only the amount on the label. More does not work faster.
• Do not mix with any other cleaner, including vinegar, bleach or a different unblocker. Our guide to cleaning products you should never mix explains why.
• Do not use a drain snake or plunger straight afterwards while the chemical is still in the pipe. If the product does not work, tell the plumber what you used.
• Flush with plenty of water afterwards as the label directs, and store the bottle upright in its original container.
• Store and dispose of leftovers as the label and your local council advise, not by tipping them down the drain.

Think about who else shares the plumbing as well. In a flat, a house share or a rented property, check who is responsible for drain maintenance before you start, and avoid putting strong chemicals into a shared stack where they may reach other people’s fixtures.

Enzyme and bacterial drain treatments are gentler. They are slower to work and are better for monthly upkeep than for clearing a blockage that has already formed, but they are kinder to pipes and septic systems.

What a professional can do that you cannot

It helps to know what you are paying for when a plumber arrives. A drainage engineer typically starts by checking where the blockage is, for example by lifting a cover at the nearest access point or running a camera into the pipe. Electric drain machines use a rotating cable with cutting heads to break through stubborn blockages in larger pipes. High-pressure water jetting uses a powerful stream of water to scour the inside of the pipe and clear grease and scale. These are tools for main drains and larger pipes, and they can cause damage if used wrongly, so they are not suitable for a home shower waste. A CCTV survey can also show if there is a cracked pipe, a displaced joint or tree roots, which cleaning alone will never fix. A reputable firm should tell you what they found and what they did, and give you a written quote for any repair beyond the first clearance.

Smells, gurgling and other drain symptoms

Why does my shower drain smell even when it is not blocked?

A smell without a blockage usually comes from the film of hair, soap and skin cells on the inside of the trap and waste, which breeds bacteria that give off a sour, musty or sulphur-like odour. It is strongest in warm, humid bathrooms. A second cause is a dry trap, where the water seal that stops drain air entering the room has evaporated in a shower that is rarely used. Running the shower for a minute or two refills it. If the smell persists after cleaning, or comes from other drains too, our guide to why a drain smells and how to fix it goes through the less obvious causes.

What causes gurgling when the shower empties?

A gurgle is air being pulled through or pushed back past the water as it drains. It often comes from a partial blockage in the waste. If it happens with other fixtures too, or when the washing machine empties, the vent or shared drain may be at fault. Clear the shower waste first, and if the noise remains or there are other symptoms, treat it as a drain problem for a plumber.

Hard water, limescale and slow drains

In hard water areas, mineral scale on the waste and trap narrows the passage and gives hair something rough to snag on. A short soak in white vinegar on the grate and opening, then a rinse, removes surface scale. Scale on the shower head and glass is a related issue, covered in our guides to descaling a shower head and cleaning shower glass.

Damaged covers, seals and pipework

A corroded or cracked cover can have sharp edges, and it lets larger debris through, so replace it. If water leaks below the tray, or you notice a persistent damp smell and mould around the base of the shower, the rubber gasket between the waste and the tray may have perished. Replacing it is a job for a confident DIYer or a plumber, because the waste has to be unscrewed from below and resealed correctly. A leak that goes unnoticed can soak the floor and the ceiling beneath, so do not put it off. If the pipe below the waste is cracked, debris builds up in the damaged section, and the blockages return, which is a repair job rather than a cleaning one.

Keeping hair out and the pipe clear

Prevention takes seconds a day and saves the job above. The biggest single improvement is a hair catcher.

A hair catcher is a mesh, silicone or stainless steel insert that sits over or inside the waste and traps hair at the surface, where you can pick it off and bin it. Stainless steel mesh is durable and easy to rinse, while soft silicone domes fit inside many wastes and stay put. Whichever you choose, check that it fits the size of your waste and does not stop the tray emptying. Empty it after each shower or two, and replace it when it distorts or corrodes.

• After every shower: lift hair from the catcher and bin it.
• Weekly: take out the cover, wipe the waste opening, and run hot tap water for a couple of minutes.
• Monthly: use a hair tool to check the top of the trap, and treat with soda crystals, or an enzyme cleaner if you prefer a slower, gentler product.
• Now and then: brush long hair before washing to loosen shed strands that would otherwise end up in the waste.
• Use less product: heavy conditioners and body oils leave a film that binds hair together, so rinse thoroughly.

Habits make a difference too. Brush long hair before you get in, so loose hairs go in the brush rather than the waste. Use sensible amounts of shampoo, conditioner and body wash and rinse well. Deal with a slow drain the first week you notice it, because a thin film is far easier to shift than a compacted plug.

Chemicals, the drain and the environment

What goes down the drain ends up at a water treatment works, or in a septic tank if you are not on mains drainage. Gentle household methods are fine. Strong chemical unblockers are designed to be used as directed and should not be used routinely. If you have a septic tank or a private treatment system, check the product label before using any chemical unblocker or antibacterial cleaner, since some can interfere with the bacteria the system relies on. Leftover chemicals should be kept in their original container and taken to a household waste recycling centre, or disposed of as your local council advises, not poured away. Enzyme products are the gentler choice for regular use.

The same principle applies elsewhere in the home. A little regular upkeep stops the build-up that makes bigger jobs, whether it is your sink drain, the grout around the tray or an appliance, such as the dishwasher filter or the washing machine. The same is true of a tumble dryer vent, where lint builds up in a similar way. You can find more routine ideas on the Cleaners Guide homepage.

When to stop and call a plumber

• Water backs up into the tray and does not go down after you have cleared the grate and tried a snake.
• Other drains, such as the bath, basin, toilet or washing machine, are slow or gurgle at the same time. That points to a shared pipe.
• There is a sewage smell, or waste water is coming up in a gully or manhole outside.
• The cover or waste is cracked, corroded or loose, or water leaks below the tray or through the ceiling underneath.
• The blockage returns again and again, even after you clear it, which can mean damage, a bad fall in the pipe, or something lodged further down.
• You have used a chemical unblocker and it has not worked. Do not add anything else, and tell the plumber exactly what you used.

Buy the tools or pay for a visit?

For a shower, a hair tool, a small snake and a pair of gloves cost very little compared with a callout fee, and they are reusable, so they are worth having if you have long-haired people in the house or a drain that clogs every few months. Powered drain machines and jetting equipment are another matter. They are expensive to buy, easy to misuse, and not designed for a domestic shower waste, so renting or buying one for this job rarely makes sense. If a blockage needs more than a hand snake, the cost of a visit is usually the better choice, and a visit also gives you the guarantee and insurance that DIY work does not. Ask for the work to be guaranteed and for confirmation of what was done.

Use a plumber from a recognised trade scheme, and ask what they charge for a callout before they start. Prices vary a lot by area, so ask two or three. If you rent, the landlord or agent is usually responsible for blocked drains that are not caused by misuse, so report it first. If the blockage is in a drain shared with neighbours or outside your boundary, the water company or the owner of the shared pipe may be responsible, and a Which? guide to drain and sewer services is a useful starting point for choosing help.

It is worth taking a photo of the blockage, the waste and any damage before the plumber arrives, and noting what you have tried and when. That saves diagnosis time. Check that the bathroom floor, any lower ceiling and the surrounding area stay dry. If water is escaping and cannot be stopped, turn off the shower’s supply at the isolating valve if it has one, and call for emergency help.

While you wait, limit use of the shower to cut down on standing water. Remove standing water with a jug, bucket or wet-and-dry vacuum, and keep it away from electrical sockets. Do not pour in more cleaners.

More questions about shower drains

How often should I clean my shower drain?

Pick out hair from the catcher after each shower or two, clean the cover and flush with hot tap water weekly, and do a deeper clean monthly. If you have long hair or live in a hard water area, you may need to do it more often.

Will bicarbonate of soda and vinegar dissolve hair?

No. The fizz can loosen light surface grime and freshen the drain, but it does not dissolve a hair clump. Remove the hair physically with a plastic tool or snake first, then use the mixture as a follow-up for smells.

Can I pour boiling water down a shower drain?

It is best not to. Many shower wastes and traps are plastic, and boiling water can soften them or loosen seals. Hot water straight from the tap does the job for soap and grease without the risk.

Can I use a plunger on a shower drain?

Yes, a sink or flat-cup plunger can work. Cover the base with a little water, seal the waste, and push and pull for about a minute. Never plunge after using a chemical unblocker, and seal off an overflow if there is one.

Does cola unblock a drain?

Not reliably. It is a weak acid with sugar in it, so it will not dissolve a hair and soap clog, and sugary residue can feed more build-up. Use a hair tool, soda crystals or a snake instead.