At least once a month, you need to deep-clean your shower drain to prevent clogging. The large debris may get stuck there and get buildup if you don’t clean it on a regular basis.
No worries, the job is not that really difficult. Just follow our quick tutorial on how to clean shower drain below for your reference.
How to Clean Shower Drain
Prepare these supplies:
- Soap
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Boiled and warm water
- Drain snake
- Melamine sponge
- Microfiber cleaning cloth
- Rubber gloves
Follow these steps:
Clean the cover
To start, you can clean the drain cover before removing it.
- Wear your rubber gloves and lift the drain cover.
- Remove all the debris like the soap scum and trapped hair.
- To deep clean your drain cover, you can soak it in a mixture of warm water and soap for about 15 minutes.
Grab your drain snake
As the name suggests, drain snakes or auger in simpler terms, works to get the big clogs out of your drain. You can find the manual drain snake that you can operate with your hand or the electric-powered one.
The manufacturers’ instructions will tell you the steps on how to use the drain snake but in general, below are the steps that you can do:
- Push the drain snake into your drain until you reach the clog.
- Rotate it to get the clog then pull it slowly so you won’t lose the clog.
- Dispose of the clog properly.
Give some baking soda and vinegar
Once you are sure that the snake has taken out any large clogs, it’s time to use the baking soda and vinegar.
- Boil up 4 cups of water then pour it down the drain.
- Pour a cup of baking soda immediately.
- Pour a cup of vinegar and let the materials sit for around 15 minutes or so, you will see the fizzing reaction as they touch each other.
Rinse the drain
Turn on your hot shower and run it through the drain for some minutes to rinse the residue of the cleaning solution. Reinstall the drain cover and rinse again if necessary.
Finish everything
Once you get your drain nice and clean, you have to clean the shower area that may get dirty after the cleaning steps above.
- To clean scuff marks and grimes, use a damp melamine sponge.
- Rinse the residue with a damp washcloth.
(You may also like: Wax Warmer Cleaning Guide | DIY Home Care)
Tips to keep your shower drain clean longer
Use a removable drain screen
A drain screen also called a hair catcher can catch large debris before it gets into the drain. It works to prevent clogging so you don’t have to clean the drain frequently.
Avoid using large particles
Some body care products can contain large particles like oatmeal scrubs or exfoliating materials which can get stuck in your drain and leads to clogging. If you love these types of body care, always use hot water to properly flush away the large particles.
