Hey guys, havent been around for a while but the growing and pampering is progressing well.

However, as of yesterday I'm forbidden to use henna at home since it clogged up the drain so badly that I dare not talk about it. :( I want to continue to use henna though, I love the stuff too much now that I've been putting cloves and grapejuice in it, so I'm looking for advice on how to proceed without further clogging.

Is it just a simple matter of running the water an extra five minutes or so to make sure it all goes away or would it require extra ingredients?

Curiously awaiting theories.

Aww, that's horrible :flower:

How finely is your henna sifted? How much water are you adding to your henna mix? What consistency is it when you put it on your head?

Can you get ( I forget the name :rolleyes:) one of those drain-cover-sifter things for your shower...it covers the drain and has only small holes in it, so only water gets through, and larger particles are caught on top? Then all the hair and henna gunk doesn't go down the drain. I'm sorry - do you know what I'm talking about?

HTH!

-- Natalie

Yes, you should run the water for awhile after you have rinsed off the henna. But here is a safe drain cleaner:

Get a box of baking soda and a jug of vinegar. Turn on the hot water, and when the water is as hot as it can be, turn it off. After the water has drained do the following:

Put some baking soda in the drain opening (maybe a cup or less), and slowly pour vinegar (maybe a quart or less) down the drain. It will fizz (You want it to be fizzing inside the pipe). Keep pouring vinegar as long as you can hear it fizzing.

When you cannot hear it fizzing anymore, turn on the hot water for awhile.

This is good maintenance for keeping your pipes clean.

Ah thank you :)

I do have baking soda at home so I might try that ASAP and look into finding a filter for future use.

My dad was less than pleased with the drain but he's one of the colour's biggest fans...

If there is a disposal in your kitchen sink, you might try doing the initial rinsing their, where you can run the disposal if it clogs to break things up. You might also try doing the initial rinse outdoors, with a garden hose or bucket of water, so that the henna runs off into the grass or compost pile.

frizzinator, excellent advice!! Should help with any oil buildup in the drains too from our various SMTs and DTs!


Mariah

I don't clog the drain anymore . . .

This may sound weird, but the step after I mix up my henna is to clean out the tub drain with a Zip-it. I've only clogged the drain if there was already hair in the drain.

When I rinse out my henna, I use huge handfulls of VO5 condish (usually Tea therapy Chamomile). I usually use upwards of half a regular sized bottle. Also, I try to sort of grab the hair before it gets to the drain. (Sweeping it up to the edge of the tub until I'm done.).

I also run lots of water.

I had this problem. I now place the henna in a papertowel that I tye off wiht a clear hair rubberband. I boil it in water tell releases dye, then thinken it with corn starch so it doesn't clog my drain.

I second the preliminary rinse in a bucket, and later water some plants with it outside. The plants should probably like it as long as there is nothing too strange in the mix.

Cleaning the drain before hennaing would definitely help -- if there are no giant furballs in the drain that everything going down has to filter through, there's not much for the henna mud to get caught on.

It's a strange idea, but during the warm months I suppose you could rinse out the henna outside. If you can run some warm water in your hose (my parents have this setup, but my dad may have done it himself), all the better. It'll probably help the lawn as much as your hair!

Finally, make sure there isn't anything truly chunky in your henna mix. I once put whole chamomile flowers in because I wanted a little more gold in the color... I don't recommend it.

Now that it is warm, go outside and use the hose! That is what I'm going to do! LOL!

Ack! I'm an apartment resident, I don't have a garden. :(

But basically it would be a good idea to regularly clean out the pipes, make sure there are very few to none lumps in the henna (whisk it I guess?), buy a filter, use more condish than I currently do and keep the water running while condition and then five minutes or so afterwards?