how do you unclog a bathtub.......without calling a plumber.......thanks?

Answer 1

Pour baking soda in the drain and follow with apple cider vinegar. It may take several tries if it's really clogged, but it will eventually open the worst of drains. You will get a nice big foaming action from the mixture. My friend did it with a large Sam's Club bag of baking soda and a gallon of the vinegar (she was really frustrated!). Her sink had been clogged for years and after several days, it finally opened. Use baking soda (with or without apple cider vinegar) weekly in each drain to keep them open. If you decide to use something like Drano or Liquid Plumber (not recommended), be sure to tell the plumber if you decide to call one. My husband nearly lost his vision when a resident said she hadn't used a Drano type product (which is acid) and it splashed in his face when he was trying to snake out the drain.

If you have a pop-up, unscrew it and take it out and see if there's hair in there. If not, take a plunger and wrap a rag around a plunger but hold onto the rag. Cover the overflow with a wet rag, run water in the basin and plunge.

If it's a rubber stopper, remover overflow cover, take a wet wash cloth and cover the overflow. Run water in the basin and plunge or use a small snake to clear the drain.

Answer 2

The thing the first person mention if it is what I think it is is a new product that has been way to long coming. It seems like a no brainier. I only wish I thought of it.
Hair is the normal cloger of a tub and it usually get caught on either the lifting mechanism of the plug on your tub or the cross that your strainer is fasten to. I sometimes when taking car of apartments will always carry a like 12 or 14 gage wire with me and put a short tight bend on the end and pull hair out that way.
If you find that it seems to be something more the over flow part of your tub drain is where you would want to run a sink snake down. You do it there because it will be a direct route to the trap. You use a sink size snake because that in most places the pipe size is the same as a sink.
Unless you live in a old house with galvanized drains going into cast iron mains 3"or more you can do this your self. The only reason I mention that is because the steel could just be to packed from a 1/2 a century or longer of use and may just be time to replace the drain period.
Save some money and do it your self though.

Answer 3

If the tub has one of those flappers that you flip up and down to close or open the drain you can clear most of the clogs (which are usually hair). Take off the two screws holding th plate where that flapper is attached. Then pull the piece out through the hole. You will get the brass link that goes down to the brass plug that does hte shutoff and will usually find a big clump of hari stuck there. Take it off and drop the plug part down the aole and reattach the plate with its crews. If you can't get the clump of hair to come up use a teakettle to pour boiling water down that same hole you opened to dissolve any grease or soap scum that is holding the crud in place. When the water runs down freely you have cleared it.

If not you will need to buy a plumber's snake and slide that in through the hole where the plate was.

If the tub just has a hole with a screen that you put a rubber stopper into, take off the screen and try to grab any crud in there. Otherwise do the hot water or the auger through thta opening.

Answer 4

Try to loosen it with a toilet plunger, be careful, especially in a mobile home, you could break the pipes. Pour some drano down there, follow the directions on the container and do not breathe it. Good luck!! Also remove anything you can see with a pair of needle nose plyers or hemostats if available. You can carefully use a metal hanger to snake out some gunk.

Answer 5

Washing soda is also very good for dissolving claggy grease.

Answer 6

You can try vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. Look it up on ''google'' for the amounts.

Answer 7

It's probably getting clogged from hair. Try getting one of these. It works great on hair clogs. http://www.zipitclean.com/