How to clean a shower drain (and when it's more than hair)
Most slow shower drains are just hair and soap scum caught in the trap — a ten-minute job with no chemicals. Here's how to clear it safely, and the signs that the blockage is further down the line.
Call 07534 868419 — 24/71. Lift the cover and clear the trap
Most modern shower trays have a removable cover or trap. Lift it out, pull away the hair and soap build-up (gloves help), rinse the trap and refit it. This fixes the majority of slow drains.
2. Try hot water and washing-up liquid
A kettle of hot (not boiling) water with a squirt of washing-up liquid can dissolve greasy build-up. Follow with a few minutes of hot tap water. Avoid chemical drain cleaners — they can damage seals and older pipework, and they rarely reach a real blockage.
3. Use a plunger or drain snake
A cup plunger over the drain, with the overflow covered by a wet cloth, can shift a stubborn plug of hair. A cheap plastic drain snake (a barbed strip) pulled through the waste catches hair deeper in the pipe.
When it's more than hair
If water backs up in other fittings, you hear gurgling from the bath or basin, or the smell keeps coming back, the blockage is likely in the branch pipe or soil stack. That's a job for a plumber — see our blocked drains service.
Questions
Are chemical drain cleaners safe to use?
We advise against them. They can soften plastic fittings, damage older metal pipes and burn skin — and if they don't clear the blockage, the engineer then has to work around a pipe full of caustic liquid.
How much does it cost to clear a blocked shower drain?
If clearing the trap yourself doesn't work, our blocked drains service starts from a fixed call-out, confirmed on the phone before we attend.
See our blocked drains & drain unblocking service →
Local help in your area
- Richmond
- East Sheen
- Barnes
- Putney
- Twickenham
- Teddington
- Wimbledon
- Kingston
- Wandsworth
- Clapham
- Battersea
- Balham
- Tooting
- Fulham
- Chelsea
- Streatham
- Earlsfield
- Southfields
- Kew
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Smell gas? Leave the property and call the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999 first.
