Water-only and plumbing...

[MagusBride]

Question for those of you who do not use shampoo, but do use an oil or oil-based product in your hair. How do you keep the plumbing in your house clear?

For example, I use no shampoo but put a lot of olive oil in my hair. Most of it absorbs, but what doesn't absorb slides off my hair and into the drain with hot water.

I have had the same problem with homemade bath bombs... even if I only add like 5 drops of essential oil, it builds up a slick layer of oil over time in the bathtub and presumably the drain as well. It isn't a problem to just clean the bathtub, but drains are a different issue, and I prefer not to keep liquid drain cleaner in the house.

[lapushka]

Hmm, yeah, you can't just put oil down there.

Clear them out, chemically? I see no other option. If you have plastic plumbing, be careful with hydroxide. You need one that is especially geared for plastic plumbing!

[baanoo]

I'm not WO but do live in an old building with old pipes. Periodically I clean out the drains with baking soda and white vinegar and that seems to take care of any buildup.

[foreveryours]

I don't imagine olive oil which is pretty much a liquid would be a big problem. It's coconut oil which solidifies even at room temperature that, like fats you NEVER pour down the drain, can easily clog pipes if it separates from solution.

Small amounts would be solubilized by the soapy rinse. Oh, but you don't use shampoo.

Maybe on occassion you could squirt some dish soap down the drain (machinists use DAWN for its grease cutting power) but don't add too much unless you're willing to deal with the ensuing mess!

[Kat]

Rinse it down with some soap?



I don't imagine olive oil which is pretty much a liquid would be a big problem. It's coconut oil which solidifies even at room temperature that, like fats you NEVER pour down the drain, can easily clog pipes.

Small amounts should be solubilized by the soapy rinse. Oh, but you don't use shampoo.

Maybe on occassion you could squirt some dish soap down the drain (machinists use DAWN for its grease cutting power) but don't add too much unless you're willing to deal with the ensuing mess!

I think the problem with oil is that it can stick, and coat the inside of the drain or anything stuck in there, and then more stuff can get stuck to it.

[EdG]

In my experience, clogs are due to hair. The last time my shower drain clogged, I fixed it with a small drain snake (https://www.amazon.com/Cobra-Products-10150-Drain-Auger/dp/B000H5O66W).
Ed

[foreveryours]

Rinse it down with some soap?


YES! Just don't use "too much" soap else you'll have suds come up in your sinks and those of your neighbor(s) too :p

[Kat]

YES! Just don't use "too much" soap else you'll have suds come up in your sinks and those of your neighbor(s) too :p

But to see their faces when it happened! lol