How can I freshen a smelly drain?

Question

The drain for the stand up shower has a bad smell. I have used products that are supposed to eliminate drain odors, but that only lasted a few hours. I have also tried vinegar and baking soda followed by hot water. The shower is clean and we don't have a drainage problem. We do, however, have a septic tank. Any ideas?

Answer 1

DO NOT POUR BLEACH into it if it goes to a septic tank.
The trap is either dry or missing. If you do not use the shower often, run the water once a week for a minuite to keep the trap full. If you use it often, it was proabbaly installed without a trap and you need to install one to prevent the sewer gas from coming inside the house. Besides the obvious smell, there is a health risk as well.

Answer 2

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf381651.tip.html

I have tried everything for my smelly shower drain. I put baking soda and vinegar and then bleach, and it still smells. Once the drain dries and gets wet it smells again. I then was forced to call a plumber, I saw online that deals with smells, www.economysewer.com and it was best money i spent, the smell is gone. They also but some good bacteria down the drain to take away the smell AND IT WORKED.

Hi, my neighbor had the same problem but he found out it wasn't his drains as much as his water from the well. Do you have a well? If so then checkout the pressure tank. If the house sat for a while then bacteria grew in the pressure tank and then transferred to the drains. You must clean out the pressure tank and then your drains otherwise you will continue to have a problem. My neighbor solved his problem by buying a new tank and filter and that got rid of all the smell.
Good luck

If you have a private septic tank you will need to buy some ensymes and flush them down the toilet - if this doesn't work you may need your septic tank pumped out.
If you are on a public sewer system put a little bleach in every drain and toilet and flush it down to clean the pipes of built up bacteria. I do this regularly - about 1x month.

Check the above site out. There are quite a few people who have had almost the exact same problem - if not the exact one itself..

Answer 3

Pour some baking soda (about a 1/4 cup) into the drain and follow that with vinegar (about a 1/2 cup). It foams and sweetens the drain as well as cleaning out any minor residue. It should not be used for clogs, however, get a regular drain cleaner for that. All natural, so no septic problems.

Answer 4

Maybe there is a blockage of something that is causing the smell. If this is the case no "freshener" is going to work.Try a drain clearing product that is safe for septic tanks. my mom always says to throw the coffee grounds down the drain and that freshens it up but I don't know....

Answer 5

Well, sounds like your septic tank is coming into the shower. Odor wise that is, go to the following site and I think you will have the answer to your problem! www.best8sites.org/odor

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 6

Install a goose neck under the shower drain. Just like under your sink. The water it keeps in the lower part will keep sewer gas from coming up through your drain.

Answer 7

Have you tried using drano or something like that? If I get that problem usually I put some of that foamy drano or the gel in in the morning and then wait until the night and put bleach in. Most times it works. It's a pain, though. If you do this don't use your shower until you've done both. Good luck.

Answer 8

There should be something in the stores you pour down the drain when you use a septic tank.

Answer 9

Have you tried pouring bleach down the drain? That might help eliminate the foul odor.

Answer 10

You can try bleach, but if the valve - do not know the name of it - that is supposed to keep odor from coming in from septic is bad - nothing well help - except to fix it.