How to clear a slow draining shower without taking off the P-trap
Hair buildup causes slow shower drains, but trying to fix it often means choosing between risky plumbing disassembly and weak quick fixes like plungers or cheap snakes that fail to clear the gunk. Fear of creating a leak or making a bigger mess stops people from opening the P-trap themselves. The real difficulty is finding a reliable way to pull out deep hair clogs without breaking the drain assembly.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using a plunger while covering the overflow
- 2Using chemical drain cleaners such as sulfuric acid, Noah rinses (sodium hydroxide), or Clobber
- 3Using a basic plumbing snake
- 4Plunging while sealing the overflow drain
- 5Using plastic hair removal tools
- 6Pouring boiling water, baking soda, and vinegar down the drain
- 7Using a wet/dry vacuum to suck out the clog
- 8Calling a plumber
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“our shower drains a bit slow sometimes, I have to pick my wife’s hair out of the drain.”source ↗
“Worried that once I take it off, it’ll never go back in right and start leaking.”source ↗
“I wouldn't open it because it you mess it up it will be a lot of work to fix.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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