Pro Handyman Blog

If your bathtub drains slowly, you can probably fix it very quickly. Most of the time the slow drain is caused by a clump of hair and soap mixed together. It is a matter of removing the hairball from the drain.

Fortunately, the ball of hair usually is very close to the bathtub drain itself. Some bathtubs have pop up stoppers that you push on to control the water. If you push on it once, the water gets blocked from draining and the tub fills. If you push on the stopper again, the stopper pops up and allows the tub to drain. If you have this type of tub stopper, unscrew it and remove it. This drain assembly will have a small grid across the drain with a threaded fitting in the center to accept the tub stopper. The small grid is big enough, however, to allow you to get a tool into the drain to remove the hair.

You may be able to get a pair of needle nosed pliers far enough to pull out the beginning of the clump and the rest will follow. If the mass of hair is a little further down, you can buy a “zip-it” tool and fish it out. This is a skinny piece of plastic with barbs on it that will fit down the drain and snag the hair as you pull the tool back out.