Do you need help unclogging your tub drain? Call Iron Mountain Plumbing today at 435-383-3813 for hassle-free solutions.
Few things are more frustrating than seeing standing water in your bathtub, which is a sign of a clog in your tub drain. In this scenario, it can be tempting to ignore the tub and opt for a shower instead, waiting for the water to drain out slowly over time.
However, it’s not the right choice.
You need to learn how to unclog a tub drain with standing water because, for starters, most drain clogs only worsen over time. You’ll need to solve the underlying problem, or you’ll come back one day to a full and smelly tub, even just 12 hours later.
Secondly, the stagnant water creates a favorable environment for bacteria, mosquitoes, moths, and other pests.
Are you ready to get rid of the clog in your tub? The skilled plumbers in Hurricane, Utah, explore your options in this blog post.
Common Causes of a Clogged Drain
Clogged tub drains are usually due to:
Accumulated Hair
Every time you take a bath and wash your hair, strands of hair will enter the water and go down into the drain.
Inside the drain, single strands will mix with other organic matter to create an insoluble ball of hair. As the size grows, so will the volume of standing water you see in the tub after each bath.
Soap Scum
Soap scum is a mixture of body oils, dead skin, soap talc, and more. You generate lots of it with each bath. The scum forms a thick film around the bathtub and pipes, helping trap even more organic material.
Hard Water
Can you see white or yellow flaky buildup around your bathroom fixtures? That’s one of the signs of hard water. The minerals in hard water (usually calcium and magnesium) form deposits that can narrow your drain line over time, reducing the rate of water flow away from your bathtub.
Regardless of the cause of the clogs, it’s possible to clear out your tub drain.
The Best Ways To Unclog a Tub Drain
If you’re looking for how to unclog a tub drain with standing water, you have multiple options available, with varying degrees of difficulty.
Note: The bulk of these require you to deal with the standing water first. So, you may need to wait for the tub to drain out slowly. Where that isn’t practical, use a small bucket to scoop out all the water.
Use Your Hand
Sometimes, the materials causing the clog in your tub may be visible and within reach. If you can see any clump of organic material around your tub drain, you can pull out as much of it as possible by hand.
Wear rubber gloves, and dispose of the dirt and debris you pull out properly. Dumping it in the sink will only lead to a clogged sink drain over time.
Pour Some Boiling Water Down the Drain
Boiling water can help break down any organic buildup clogging your drain. Fill a kettle or pot and heat it to boiling. Next, pour it slowly down the tub drain.
Wait 15 minutes and run the tub faucet to confirm there’s no water pooling. You may need to repeat the process a few times to see results.
Keep in mind that this option is best for homes with metal pipes. Boiling water may damage PVC pipes.
During the process, be careful to avoid mishandling the hot water to prevent burns. Additionally, do not bend directly over the drain to avoid inhaling dirty fumes.
Use Some Baking Soda and Vinegar
Baking soda and vinegar have a long history and homemade cleaning agents. They can come in handy when looking for how to unclog a tub drain with standing water.
With the tub empty, pour one cup of baking soda down the drain. Next, pour one cup of vinegar down the drain. The resulting mix will give off a fizzing sound.
Plug the drain with a rag and wait 30 minutes to an hour before washing it off with hot water. Warm water will also work if you have PVC pipes. Run the tub faucet to see if your efforts yielded any results.
Use Chemical Drain Cleaners (With Caution!)
If you don’t have baking soda and vinegar at home, you can use store-bought drain-cleaning chemicals to tackle the clogs in your tub drain. These products work by causing a chemical reaction in the drain to break down all soap scum, hair, and debris.
However, every professional plumber will advise against frequent or indiscriminate use of these drain cleaners. Most of these products can damage your plumbing pipes, your sewer lines, and your septic system with regular usage.
Secondly, there’s always the risk of mistakenly combining these drain cleaners with common household chemicals like bleach, creating a deadly gas. Therefore, it’s best to avoid drain cleaners if you can.
Use a Plunger
You can clear out the clogs blocking your tub drain with a plunger. First, ensure there’s enough water in the tub to cover the bottom of the plunger. Next, rub some petroleum jelly around the base of the plunger to help you get an airtight seal when using the plunger.
Set the plunger directly over the drain and work for three to five minutes to eliminate the clog. Once you’re done, run the water again to see if the tub drain is clear. If it’s not, repeat the process a few more times until you get a free-flowing drain.
Use a Drain Snake
Drain snakes work well for clearing drain clogs because they can reach deeper into the drain line, but it will take you some time to figure out how to use one of these. Once you do, look for a drain snake that’s the perfect fit for your tub drain.
Insert the snake slowly down the drain to avoid damage. Stop once you detect resistance, and lock the snake in place. Next, rotate the handle until you feel the resistance ease up completely, and then pull out the snake to remove the debris.
Run the water to confirm that you’ve cleared the clog in the drain line. You should at least see improvement. In that case, you can repeat the process for better results.
If you don’t see any improvement, the clog extends beyond the reach of the drain snake.
Improvise With a Coat Hanger
If you can’t find a drain snake, you can create a makeshift alternative with a metal coat hanger. Get one of these and straighten it out with pliers. Make a hook on one end, small enough to get into the tub drain.
Slowly insert the hook end into the drain as far as possible. If you hit a clog, move the hook until it latches onto the debris, and then pull it out slowly. Repeat it as many times as possible until you’ve cleared the clog.
If you don’t have a metal hanger, you can convert any thin line of aluminum into a hook. Copper wire (intertwined for strength) may also work.
How To Prevent a Clogged Tub Drain
After you’ve succeeded in clearing out your clogged tub drain, you’ll want to take steps to prevent a repeat of the unsavory experience. Some of the things you can do include the following:
- Install a drain cover: Drain covers can catch hair and other such debris that can clog your drain. You can collect the trash after every bath, leaving your drain line clear.
- Ditch oily hygiene products: Certain hygiene products mix with soap scum, hair, and other organic debris to clog up drain lines.
- Consider water treatment: If your water is high in mineral contaminants, you need to discuss water treatment options with a qualified plumber. Softening your water will help prevent any further mineral buildup in your drain line.
- Flush your drain regularly: Tub drains don’t become clogged overnight. It takes weeks of debris buildup to get to the stage of having standing water in the tub. You can prevent this by maintaining a regular drain line flushing schedule using any of the home remedies covered here.
Call a Professional Plumber From Iron Mountain Plumbing for Your Clogged Tub Drain
Have you tried several of our recommendations with little positive results? It’s time to call in the big guns! At Iron Mountain Plumbing, we have the tools and experience to tackle all hard-to-reach clogs causing standing water in your bathtub.
We’ll arrive at your home on schedule with everything we need to get the water flowing through your tub drain quickly again.
We can also fix other plumbing problems you have. We don’t just know how to unclog a tub drain with standing water; we are also the team to call when a pipe is leaking under a floor or when you need to install the ideal water treatment solution.
Call Iron Mountain Plumbing in Cedar City, Utah, today at 435-383-3813 to book an appointment.