Alternatives to Drano? (Enzyme drain uncloggers?)

[MommyAllison]

Does anybody have one to recommend? Our tub drain is terribly slow, and I don't want to use Drano/Liquid Plumbr/etc. I've heard that enzyme drain clearers work well, but don't know which one is best? I can't find any locally, so will be ordering online - and would love to find a Prime eligible Amazon option. :) I was looking at Drainbo - they have a money back guarantee if it doesn't work, which is great... Anybody have any experience or recommendations? Thanks!

Edited to change wording - it is a tub, not a shower :)

[RunnerDuck]

Have you tried plunging it?

[Twoboos]

I've had success with baking powder & vinegar, followed by boiling water.

[MommyAllison]

Yes, I've tried plunging, baking soda & vinegar, boiling water...it sometimes works, but after a few weeks the problem is back.

[crl]

A plumber once told me to do baking soda and vinegar every week as a preventative in an old house. Since I use those to clean it wasn't hard for me to do.

Catherine

[Wondermom]

There's probably too much build up of hairs and soap and gunk. No drano or enzyme-eating solution is really going to do as well as good old fashioned cleaning. Go get a drain grabber (I'm not sure if that's what theyire really called), but this is it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rvDcjAV1Uk

We found it for less than $4 at our local hardware store. This is the same thing that we was used by the plumber who came to our house at $100/hour. He said we could do this ourselves next time, and that to keep the build up from getting too bad, to use the enzyme-eating solution once-a month (1x a day for 5 days initially on a drain that's never been treated). We bought a jug of powder that mixes and it lasts a long time.

Good luck! BTW, by the time we called the plumber, our shower was clogging so badly that it forced you to take a quick shower, or we risked having the water overrun the little lip of the tile and out the door!

[MommyAllison]

There's probably too much build up of hairs and soap and gunk. No drano or enzyme-eating solution is really going to do as well as good old fashioned cleaning. Go get a drain grabber (I'm not sure if that's what theyire really called), but this is it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rvDcjAV1Uk

We found it for less than $4 at our local hardware store. This is the same thing that we was used by the plumber who came to our house at $100/hour. He said we could do this ourselves next time, and that to keep the build up from getting too bad, to use the enzyme-eating solution once-a month (1x a day for 5 days initially on a drain that's never been treated). We bought a jug of powder that mixes and it lasts a long time.

Good luck! BTW, by the time we called the plumber, our shower was clogging so badly that it forced you to take a quick shower, or we risked having the water overrun the little lip of the tile and out the door!

Thank you! I am pretty sure you're right about the buildup. We'll look for that drain grabber. Do you know the name of the powder you are using?

Also, I need to edit my original post - thankfully, it is a tub, not a shower - otherwise we'd be taking 1 minute showers to avoid overflow too! :)

Thanks everyone!

[YouAreTheFocus]

There's probably too much build up of hairs and soap and gunk. No drano or enzyme-eating solution is really going to do as well as good old fashioned cleaning. Go get a drain grabber ...

I just wanted to second this rec. We got a cheap drain snake grabber thing, def. under $10, and my husband used it in our sinks & tubs. You wouldn't believe what he pulled out of there. Makes me want to gag just thinking about it!

[Wondermom]

I think our enzyme powder is called Bio-Kleen. We've not used it on our other drains so far, but we probably should, especially in the kitchen. It works okay on that shower drain, but we've since used the drain grabber on that same drain, too, so hard to know Bio-Kleen's long-term effectiveness.

[candaceb]

My post-partum hair loss had resulted in standing in ankle-deep water in the shower every morning. After reading this thread, I went out in search of the "grab-it" tool, but instead found the Turbo Snake on clearance at Target for $.74 and figured I had nothing to lose. DH gave it a try and pulled out some hair but not the big clog, and then gave up and told me to buy Drain-o. I persisted and actually managed to clear the clog, but when I pulled out the snake, it didn't have anything attached to it... so hopefully that big blob of air cleared all the way out and doesn't clog somewhere else, but for now my problem is solved without chemicals:D