How-To Keep Your Drains Clog Free

How to keep your drains clog-free without chemicals! 

I love to clean, but I don't like "gross cleaning". The kind of cleaning that requires me to fish hair clogs out of the bathtub drain, that kind of gross cleaning.

I have longer hair and every few weeks, my bathtub will start to drain slower and slower until I finally need to clear things up with chemicals. I really don't like doing that, especially when I read the label. Eee gads, it's scary, like zombie apocalypse scary.

I don gloves and safety goggles and follow the directions on the label, leave a note that NO ONE is to use the tub for at least 15 minutes, and then I wait until I can run hot water down the drain hoping everything runs smoothly and quickly. Sometimes, that works, but sometimes I need to go through the entire process one or two more times.

It's annoying.

Super Easy Installation

I honestly thought that unless I wanted to go the totally icky fishing method of using a tool to pull hair out of the drain (OH MY WORD), this was my only option, until I tried TubShroom.

I wasn't sure how or if TubShroom would work and I worried that it would be hard to install but it literally took less than 30 seconds to swap out my traditional mesh strainer for the TubShroom.

All I had to do was unscrew the middle screw, pull out the strainer and place the TubShroom in place. It sticks up like a mushroom cap and doesn't slow down the water draining from the tub at all.

My tub is old so ignore the ugliness - it's on the list of things that need to be updated, someday soon, hopefully. 😉

More Bathroom Cleaning Tips:

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No More Clogged Drains

I waited a few days and checked it and it had done its job well. There was hair coiled around the base that it prevented from going down the drain and all I had to do was use a wad of toilet paper to pull the hair off. The TubShroom was ready to go again and I put it back into place.

You can buy one here but I've also seen them available at brick and mortar stores. 

So far, I have only installed it in the bathtub but there is a SinkShroom as well that will be perfect for the bathroom sink.

One More Thing

Shortly after I posted this someone commented on my Facebook page that their Tubshroom got moldy. When they made the comment, mine was still fine but sure enough, in about a month, it did get moldy and I freaked out a bit but knew I could get it clean.

How To Clean a Tubshroom and Get Rid of the Gunk and Mold

Even with weekly cleanings during which I would pull the TubShroom out of the drain and clean off the hair, it did inevitably get hideous and sure enough, developed mold. 

When this happened to me, I was tempted to throw it out and replace it with the original strainer but I did like how it worked and the principal of not needing to worry about clogs anymore so I thought I would give cleaning it a try. 

These pictures are gross and I don't like showing them to you, but this is what the Tubshroom looked like with the mold. 

I knew from past experience that the only thing that has ever effectively cleaned mold for me is bleach. I have not tried vinegar for this and if you do, please let me know if it works.

Instructions for Cleaning a TubShroom:

I removed the hair from the body of the TubShroom and then placed it in a metal cup that I use for household cleaning. NOT something we ever drink out of.

Once it was in the cup, I poured bleach over it until it was fully covered.

I allowed the Tubshroom to soak for 30 minutes and then flipped it over to soak for another 30 minutes. 

When the soaking was done, the mold was gone. 

I rinsed off the Tubshroom and put it back in place.

Now I know that once I start seeing the mold I immediately soak it so it doesn't end up as disgusting as the original photo.