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Bath not draining - anything more I can do or do I need to call a plumber?

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  • Snakey
    Snakey Posts: 1,174 Forumite
    Thanks guys! I think I mainly hadn't appreciated how all the piping works - I thought that if I poured anything down it would just stop and sit in the first u-bend that it comes to and so would be no good if the blockage was further along.

    All of the rest of the soda crystals plus boiling water, left overnight, hasn't made any difference, so I'm off for some Mr Muscle once the bath has drained. I'm a bit nervous about anything more vicious, or the blaster things, because this flat has given me nothing but trouble since I've bought it and I would not be the least bit surprised if doing something like that randomly explodes every inch of pipework I've got!

    There's only me here so I'm confident it's nothing more sinister than hair and soap, but if it does come up the plughole for any reason and is suitably gross I'll be sure to take a photo for you anotheruser. :)

    Final question: I understand about not mixing cleaners, so is a bathful of water enough to clear out the soda crystal stuff before I put down the Mr Muscle?

    [Edit to add: not boiling boiling Roddy, I did have the cold tap on a bit at the same time.]
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Forget chemicals, use a drain snake as suggested above-you need something that will physically clear the blockage.
    And you really don't need a plumber to clear a blocked bath waste, any competent handyperson can do that.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • manda1205
    manda1205 Posts: 2,366 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Snakey wrote: »
    Final question: I understand about not mixing cleaners, so is a bathful of water enough to clear out the soda crystal stuff before I put down the Mr Muscle?

    [Edit to add: not boiling boiling Roddy, I did have the cold tap on a bit at the same time.]

    Yes I would trust that a bath full of water has rinsed all other stuff away. I always try soda crystals first then use Mr Muscle and all I do is leave the tap running for a while in between.
  • DSmiffy
    DSmiffy Posts: 791 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Mr Muscle Sink and Plughole Unblocker, works for me.
    Run the hot tap for a while first, then put the whole bottle down, leave overnight and run the hot tap again in the morning. If that doesn't clear it it must be something stuck that maybe can't be dissolved, metal wood plastic etc.
  • themull1
    themull1 Posts: 4,299 Forumite
    When my bath drained slowly and i called a plumber out, he found a metre of hair in the pipes, both my daughters have really long hair, and this had been building up for ages!!
  • Babbawah
    Babbawah Posts: 685 Forumite
    First you need to consider what it is that's blocking the drainage.

    99.9 percent sure it will be a coagulated mixture of dead skin, hair and liquid soap. This can include toothpaste when it's the bathroom sink that's blocked.

    Forget any and all expensive 'brand name' chemicals. They are nothing but a fancy way to charge 1000+percent for caustic soda crystals.

    Get a hold of a length of stiff wire and bend a small hook on the end, make sure that it will fit down the plughole. Use this to fish as much hair out as possible . . . and there shall be lots !

    Then make a mix of 100g of caustic soda and 0.5 litre of water.

    ***ALWAYS ADD SODA TO THE WATER***

    Pour the mix down the plughole and put the plug in. Then fill the bath with warm water. Wait 10mins then pull the plug to let the water flush the caustic mix away.

    Repeat if neccessary.

    Caustic soda in a pure form can be purchased for not much more than £2 for 500mg from either a PROPER hardware shop or online. <spits> B&Q etc want you to buy the sooper dooper 'brand name' for £7.95 in a fashionable shape of bottle 'cos it helps their profits. The active ingredient here is caustic soda so please cut out the middle man.

    The hair forms a web in the pipework, this web then catches the deadskin and liquid soap. In between the times of the bath draining it dries out and forms a formiddable barrier to anything that wants to get past.

    Ask me how I know this?
  • Babbawah wrote: »
    First you need to consider what it is that's blocking the drainage.

    99.9 percent sure it will be a coagulated mixture of dead skin, hair and liquid soap. This can include toothpaste when it's the bathroom sink that's blocked.

    Forget any and all expensive 'brand name' chemicals. They are nothing but a fancy way to charge 1000+percent for caustic soda crystals.

    Get a hold of a length of stiff wire and bend a small hook on the end, make sure that it will fit down the plughole. Use this to fish as much hair out as possible . . . and there shall be lots !

    Then make a mix of 100g of caustic soda and 0.5 litre of water.

    ***ALWAYS ADD SODA TO THE WATER***

    Pour the mix down the plughole and put the plug in. Then fill the bath with warm water. Wait 10mins then pull the plug to let the water flush the caustic mix away.

    Repeat if neccessary.

    Caustic soda in a pure form can be purchased for not much more than £2 for 500mg from either a PROPER hardware shop or online. <spits> B&Q etc want you to buy the sooper dooper 'brand name' for £7.95 in a fashionable shape of bottle 'cos it helps their profits. The active ingredient here is caustic soda so please cut out the middle man.

    The hair forms a web in the pipework, this web then catches the deadskin and liquid soap. In between the times of the bath draining it dries out and forms a formiddable barrier to anything that wants to get past.

    Ask me how I know this?


    100% agree with this

    Own label caustic soda correctly (AND SAFELY) applied is almost free and will melt any “normal” sink blockages (and by normal I mean anything biodegradable, no not bricks!)

    My wife is like a walking hairball, and I use this stuff proactively to avoid issues.
  • Snakey
    Snakey Posts: 1,174 Forumite
    What confused me is that when I took off all the u-bend and connected bits, there was nothing - a very slight grey residue in some places which I rinsed out and dried off, but no blockage and no hair. So I don't think pushing wire down the plughole is going to get me anywhere :(. I have done all the bits of pipe that I can access, so if it does need to be manually removed then I will have to get someone out.

    That was also my question about the soda/muscle/etc, because anything that's only going to go and sit in the pipes that I already know are clear (like e.g. the first u-bend it gets to) is not going to do anything apart from, presumably, eventually corrode the pipe and give me a leak to go with my lack of drainage. So I'm now assuming from what I'm hearing that the Muscle will scoot along the pipe until it finds the blockage and then get to work? If not then I just wasted three quid!

    Thanks for the help and advice, and I will let you know what happens when I have my shower tomorrow morning! If it's still blocked then I'll go for the caustic soda.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    A drain snake will get you a lot further in than the initial waste trap..,they're about a fiver.
    I don't get this penchant for using noxious chemicals to clear a physical obstruction.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Avoriaz
    Avoriaz Posts: 39,110 Forumite
    You say you are in a flat.

    Have you checked with your neighbours to see if any of them have a similar problem?

    Any blockage might be some way from your bathroom and involve drain pipes taking waste from a number of flats.
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