Regular hair oiling + long hair + bi-wkly shampooing=drain clogs? How to deal w/ it?

[StephanieB]

Okay. So I've been having really bad drain clogs in the past 6 months... as long as I've been oiling my hair regularly. sigh

I use shampoo when I wash. I usually wash once or twice weekly. (most often twice in a week)
My hair prefers SLS-heavy shampoo.

I use oil in the length of my hair pre-wash (rather heavily) and post-wash (lightly) while my hair is still wet - and let it dry with oil in it. Additionally, I may put a tiny bit of extra oil on the very end tips - which are dry - in between the wash days.
I also oil my scalp once or twice a month, pre-wash.

Need I mention that I have long hair? :rolleyes:
It's not long by LHC standards... but it is long hair... past APL at 23 1/8 inches.

Naturally, long hair sheds when one washes one's hair... and once on the shower floor or in the sink), it, of course, goes right down the drain. Enough hair clogs drains, as well all probably know all too well.

Because I am handicapped with severe spine pain, I often cannot both wash my hair (the length procedure that it is for all of us longhairs) and shower to wash my body; it's too much for me to stand that long. Not even my plastic shower chair helps me to remain erect long enough with my hands up over my head for so long. So I often wash my hair in my large bathroom sink, bending forward over said sink basin one day and shower later on or the next day. I don't have options on this. sigh Washing my hair and showering at once is just one of those things that I can't do anymore.

My tub and my sink drains were clogged badly enough to warrant a plumber's services - once again - this weekend.
So... naturally, I hired a plumber who is not a plumber by trade but who knows plumbing as well as a master plumber: hubby. (He's cheap. I don't pay him a cent over the cost of parts & chemicals. No labor fees. And he already owns a very powerful and very long professional-grade power snake. LOL)

This time (yet again :rolleyes:) the clog was some 30 feet down... not near the sink and a PitA to get to. A major PitA.

My husband - who was a chemist in the 1760s/1970s - combined his chemist's knowledge with his plumbing skills, as he usually does.

WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT to do this [what my husband does] yourself, at home, unless you are a chemist - or have access to a chemist to help you!! The following can be VERY DANGEROUS and you can get seriously injured - as in 'requiring hospitalization and skin grafts' kind of injury!!!


Danger Warning duly given...


Hubby ascertained - after simple procedures of (1) using lye double-strength & (2) checking at the trap - that the clog was further down than the trap. He then used his snake and discovered that the clog was some 30 feet down the pipes from said trap. He could not get [even] his snake past this clog. He spent over two hours attempting all of the usual sorts of plumber's tricks.

So, he did the dangerous thing that is so dangerous.

First, he made me leave the house, as I have asthma, and lye fumes are a trigger for an asthma attack for me.

When, from my next-door neighbor's house, I saw him open up the bathroom window, I knew it was gonna be really BAD. He usually doesn't bother to do more than crack a window, never mind throwing it open all the way, as far as it will go open.

He then poured a full can and another half can down the sink drain, placed the 'bomb bucket' over the drain, and ran the hottest tap water down through the crack between the bucket and the drain edge down the drain. He ran the hot water 'till it just began to back up, and then he turned the tub tap off. Leaving the 'bomb bucket' in place, he left the bathroom, carefully closing the door to keep the cats out of there. Deadly situation both from a poison possibility and an explosive possibility.

I guess I have to explain why we have a 'bomb bucket', eh? :D
We use an old steel fire bucket for small explosives containment here - don't ask and I won't have to lie to you all ...LMAO... one of the potentially explosive things we occasionally must do is this sort of drain-clog-clearing, and I aint tellin' about some of the other things.

Anyhooo... so after a few hours (we went to see the new Harry Potter movie), we came back home. I went to another neighbor's house for safety's sake, and hubby went back into my bathroom to (1) finish the sink drain by pouring 6 gallons of booiling water down the drain with all the lye in it, and (2) do the shower/tub drain. Same procedure: One and a half cans of lye down the drain, pop the bomb bucket over it, and exit the bathroom, closing the door behind him. This time, we went out to eat supper; came back home a couple hours later. Hubby poured another 6 gallons of boiling water down that drain, too, after all of that lye.

Then, he set up the big oscillating fan and the floor-sized box fan to force large amounts of air through the bathroom and out the bathroom window. I spent 45 minutes at another neighbor's house, socializing, while he aired out the bathroom.

FINALLY, almost 8 hours from the start of de-clogging these two drains, they were running clear again... and i could go home without having an asthma attack.

I'm getting mighty sick of this!! :(
Every 5 or 6 weeks...


I asked hub by what all of the black grease was that he got out of the two drains... what it was that was all over my white porcelain tub and sink, that I had to clean up. (Yes, I used gloves. I knew it had to have some lye in it.)
It looked like black kitchen grease... or automotive grease, or something.

Hubby told me that it ^ was, in fact, grease. Literally.
He said that my hair oils plus my SLS-shampoos plus my shed hair were making grease, and clogging up my drains.
Oil + sodium lauryl sulfate (in soaps, shampoos, and tooth pastes) = grease
My shed hair balls up and grease holds it together, making a God-awful clogging material!
My procedure of running cold water after the warm water of the shampoo wash to close my hair cuticles works fine for my hair cuticles... but it also congeals my own home-manufactured grease balls! :(

As further proof, he pointed out that the sink and the tub drains (just as old as those in my bathroom) almost never clog up.
And it's true. They don't. Mine didn't clog nearly so often as they have ever since I began to oil my hair, either.

I asked him what I could do to eliminate such a problem - short of stopping using oil on my hair and/or shampoo with sodium lauryl sulfate and/or the cold water rinse?

His reply: I must either stop using oils & shampoos with SLS and/or stop running cold water down the drains. Possibly I must stop all of these things. He isn't sure. He says it'll have to be a trial-and-error kind of thing.

Hubby suggested that I try using an ammonium-based shampoo (he says that the ammonium salts won't create grease like the SLS salts do) - such as Neutrogena bar soap. He also suggested that I boil a gallon or so of water before each time I wash my hair, leave it simmering on the stove while I wash, and come downstairs to bring the water back up to a boil and take it directly upstairs to dump the boiling water, down my sink or tub drain as soon after washing as humanely possible to cut the oil before it becomes grease. He also said I might want to run the hottest tap water right after my post-wash cold water rinse, leave the hot water running while I go get the boiling water, and turn the tap off to dump the boiling water down the just-used drain.

There are several things wrong with his advice ---
(1) My hair loves SLS-heavy shampoos; it hates all 'poo bars, no matter what they are.
(2) Neutrogena is NOT a shampoo and my hair will HATE it just as much as it ever has.
(3) Just what I need - more physical work that I can't handle/manage with a bad spine that handicaps me. Dunno if I can lug all that water upstairs... never mind lug boiling water that I am certain to scald myself on.


First: Does anyone have any suggestions as to what shampoos are ammonium-based and not SLS-based???

Second: Has anybody else who oils their hair got these drain problems... and if so, what do you do about them (ie - to avoid them)???

TIA

[aenflex]

I just use Drano or a snake as well as a hair screen at the actual drain itself. Not that the Drano is any better, but I don't like the sound of all the 'chemical' work...

[halo_tightens]

I use Suave Daily Clarifying, which contains Ammonium Laryl Sulfate and Ammonium Laureth Sulfate instead of Sodium Anything. Would that count?

ETA: You have GOT to invite me over one day to explore the bucket's other functions.... :D

[luxepiggy]

2 drain traps - 1 in-drain & 1 above-drain, weighted down around the edges to prevent hair from slipping underneath & cleaned after every shower plus quarterly application of Drano foaming drain cleaner (^(oo)^)v

[Anje]

Most of the Suave shampoos are ammonium-based, IIRC.

The oil + SLS = grease thing is interesting... I may have to play with that one a bit, because I'd think that enough shampoo to remove the oils would also make them water soluble. (Micelle chemistry and all...) Then again, all that lye is going to be saponifying the grease, so he spent the day making soap in your pipes!

And here, I was going to suggest getting and regularly using a Zip-it. But I think your problems are a bit further down and advanced than getting a good declogging tool (which you certainly have, between the lye, the snake, and the hubby!).

[p3_Arme]

Get hubby to help wash hair :)

Else, see if you can use a bucket or a portable bath and ask hubby to empty it outside.

Else I use Sunsilk, some of their products don't contain SLS, and some Lush and Palmolive products don't either, try typing into Google, NON SLS Shampoos and see what comes up.

Your best bet is a shopping trip to read the ingrediants on the bottles online or at a Store.

[GoddesJourney]

I don't have any advice about chemistry. What I can say is that I was taught by my mom as a child to run my hands through my hair in the shower and try to catch as many of the shed ones as possible. I put them on the wall of the shower away from the water so they don't go down the drain. When the shower is over, I just swirl the wet hairs on the wall until they collect into a ball and then I throw them away in the bathroom trash.

[isbmlamloi]

All I need is a hair catcher (one of these: http://capl.washjeff.edu/2/m/4785.jpg) over my shower drain. I clean it off after every shower -- well, actually, I clean it off BEFORE every shower, when the hair from the previous shower is dry and doesn't stick to my hand when I pick it up.

Good luck!

[StephanieB]

I just use Drano or a snake as well as a hair screen at the actual drain itself. Not that the Drano is any better, but I don't like the sound of all the 'chemical' work...
HA HA

Not much of a chemist, then, are you, aenflex? :p

There's more 'chemicals' in Drano than in plain ole lye, and what's in Drano products is at least as dangerous as plain lye.

Each Drano product differs slightly ingredients-wise... but here's what's in 'em:
Water
Bleach Sodium Hypochlorite
Caustic Sodium Hydroxide
Builder Sodium Silicate
Cleaning Agent Proprietary Surfactant Blend
Dye (for coloring it - supposedly to differentiate between the different products, I think)

Drano is at least as dangerous to humans and pets...
Drano is weaker than plain lye (I personally don't choose to pay for a product whose primary ingredient - the first listed - is water. But it's a decent product for the average homeowner who isn't chemically knowledgeable or plumbing savvy.)
Drano costs a heck of a lot more than plain lye from the local hardware store.
Drano is no easier (nor harder) to use than lye.



I use Suave Daily Clarifying, which contains Ammonium Laryl Sulfate and Ammonium Laureth Sulfate instead of Sodium Anything. Would that count?

ETA: You have GOT to invite me over one day to explore the bucket's other functions.... :D
I don't know the first; I'll have to ask the hubby. I'll let you know, though, wahtever he says.

You're welcome here any time. We can always make fun with things that go BOOM. Firearms, explosives, you name it - we can do it. :D :cheese:





2 drain traps - 1 in-drain & 1 above-drain, weighted down around the edges to prevent hair from slipping underneath & cleaned after every shower plus quarterly application of Drano foaming drain cleaner (^(oo)^)v
Hmmm... :ponder:

What do you weight the edges with?



Most of the Suave shampoos are ammonium-based, IIRC.

The oil + SLS = grease thing is interesting... I may have to play with that one a bit, because I'd think that enough shampoo to remove the oils would also make them water soluble. (Micelle chemistry and all...) Then again, all that lye is going to be saponifying the grease, so he spent the day making soap in your pipes!

And here, I was going to suggest getting and regularly using a Zip-it. But I think your problems are a bit further down and advanced than getting a good declogging tool (which you certainly have, between the lye, the snake, and the hubby!).
I'll have to check the Suave 'poos... I have a few that I use alternately with my favored Verseo.

Yeah, basically, hubby spent the whole day making soap in my bathroom pipes... that's for sure. :rolleyes: sigh
But at least the bathroom didn't go up in a great big BOOM!!

Let me know what you come up with - if anything - after you've played around in your lab (or home lab... if you're like hubby about that), please, Anje! :flower:


Arme - Thak you. I'll have to look for and at the SUnsilk and Lush products.
I hope I won't have to have hubby cart out all of the heavy water all the time. He just found out Friday that he's got a heart problem... and it's not good, either. :(


GoddesJourney - I didn't know that. My mother always has had very short hair, so she didn't teach me anything at all about long hair care. All she ever did regarding my hair was cut mine shorter than an inch or so, as punishment, whenever she wanted to punish me.


I've never seen that contraption, isbmlamloi, thanks... I'm gonna look into it. It'll work in y shower/tub drain, but not in my sink drain (that has a stalk-style metal drain stopper integral to the sink workings).

[enfys]

I don't have any advice about chemistry. What I can say is that I was taught by my mom as a child to run my hands through my hair in the shower and try to catch as many of the shed ones as possible. I put them on the wall of the shower away from the water so they don't go down the drain. When the shower is over, I just swirl the wet hairs on the wall until they collect into a ball and then I throw them away in the bathroom trash.

That's exactly what I do and I've never had drain blocking problems. Even when me, my mum and sister all had past waist hair! Prevention is better than cure in this case.

I hope you can find a solution that makes life easier, not harder.

[sibiryachka]

We use metal mesh "sink strainers" that fit down into the drain, like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Set-Mesh-Sink-Strainer-Stainless/dp/B002508Q5E

DBF and his mid-back hair have been here a year now, and we have no issues with clogging. They fit in sink drains as well as in the shower. I'd tried the white plastic kind shown above in the past, and am much happier with how these perform, because they don't slide around.

We got them at our local flea market, but I don't think they should be hard to find elsewhere. Heck, they came in 4-pack, we have extras - I am 100% serious in saying I'd be happy to send you a couple!

[BelleBot]

I've been using hair removal cream to unblock my shower drain. It gets blocked very quickly as both me and my SO have tailbone length hair. So instead of forking out lots for drain unblocker that usually sets off my asthma, I squirt a load of hair removal cream down the drain followed by boiling water, I do this probably every 2 weeks. Seems to be working well so far. No fumes, it's dirt cheap as I get Nair from the pound shop.
I oil my hair regularly as a pre wash treatment, use a mixture of sulphate, low sulphate and sulphate free shampoos depending on my mood, and also coney and non cone conditioner, I also use henna.

Also finger combing in the shower to catch shed hairs and sticking them to the wall is great for preventing lots of hair going down the drain.

[BrightEyes7]

2 drain traps - 1 in-drain & 1 above-drain, weighted down around the edges to prevent hair from slipping underneath & cleaned after every shower plus quarterly application of Drano foaming drain cleaner (^(oo)^)v

This would be my advice... Drain traps are a must for long hairs in my opinion!

[Bucatini]

This is gross, but once I get a nice hair-wad on top of my drain (like where you would put a hair catcher if you had one) I leave that hair-wad in place, and it just gets bigger and bigger as it collects the hair from each shower. You need an understanding SO if you're going to do this. Or an SO who'd rather overlook the hairwad than play mad chemist or write a check to a plumber.

[luxepiggy]

*snip*

Hmmm... :ponder:

What do you weight the edges with?

*snip*


Forgot one step (^(oo)^) It's actually:

In-drain trap, edges taped down with waterproof fabric tape (I only remove this trap to pour the Drano - it's basically the backup for anything that sneaks past the first one - because my hair is so straight, it can slip through the tiniest openings sometimes!)
Above-drain trap, edges weighted down with old jade bracelet :p
Foaming Drano quarterly (I don't have a plumber on call tho ;))I also do the stick-the-hair-on-the-wall routine (^(oo)^)v

[luxepiggy]

We use metal mesh "sink strainers" that fit down into the drain, like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Set-Mesh-Sink-Strainer-Stainless/dp/B002508Q5E

DBF and his mid-back hair have been here a year now, and we have no issues with clogging. They fit in sink drains as well as in the shower. I'd tried the white plastic kind shown above in the past, and am much happier with how these perform, because they don't slide around.

We got them at our local flea market, but I don't think they should be hard to find elsewhere. Heck, they came in 4-pack, we have extras - I am 100% serious in saying I'd be happy to send you a couple!

My first hair trap, the in-drain one, is like this (^(oo)^)v

[Messyhair]

I use a whole bottle of Drano every few weeks because our tub starts draining about a drop at a time. haha! I used to use a hair trap but I haven't in a while. I guess I should look into getting one again.

[embee]

I use the little screen thingy in the drain and I *brush brush brush* my hair before getting into the shower. I also do not scrub either my scalp or the length. Only pour diluted shampoo on and let it run through, with some gentle massage at the most oil-producing areas. Since I began brushing before washing I have had maybe half a dozen hairs caught in the drain screen thingy per hair washing. Before beginning my brushing routine I used to have a "slow tub drain" with lots of hair in it. Made me nervous! ;)

(At the moment I'm working on NW/SO so the above is my previous method.)

[Cailie]

We use metal mesh "sink strainers" that fit down into the drain, like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Set-Mesh-Sink-Strainer-Stainless/dp/B002508Q5E




I agree !

Safe, perfectly efficient, eco friendly, soooo easy !

[sibiryachka]

I think luxepiggy is on to something, using both kinds of drain traps. I'm also a little woozy with envy over having a spare old jade bracelet lying around that I didn't mind getting all gunky in the tub. That is so... luxe, yet practical. I'd probably get a washer or something out of the shed, then it would rust.
*makes mental note to keep eye out for bracelet when thrift store shopping*

[AnnaJamila]

I always brush my hair before and set any hair that comes out wet up onto the wall, I'm a pretty heavy shedder- off and on- and this has GREATLY reduced the amount of clogage. And you can just go into the kitchen department and find a suction cup mesh domey-thing that will fit over any sink drain hole. It's looks like a little tiny strainer turned over with a big thick black tube around the outside. That or give DH a bit of a project with a regular rounded mesh drain catcher!

[StephanieB]

I actually have some of those silvery-colored metal drain strainers somewhere in the house... :o
They don't fit the butler's kitchen sink (a 69-yr-old sink with a non-standard oversized drain hole), and because I bought them at the dollar store (three for a dollar) it just wasn't worth the effort to go try to return them.

I wonder... where the heck did I put those stupid darn things, now??? :confused::ponder:

They'd ^ work in my shower/tub drain.


Dunno what to do, though, for the sink drain. I can't use those ^ - or anything else that dips down into the drain hole - because the sink fixtures include a pull-to-close/push-to-open stalk-style drain plug in the same gold-toned metal as the faucet handles.
I don't think anything will both fit around the drain strainer's circumference and hold it in place while I wash my hair in that sink... too much hair length moving around under the running faucet. sigh
Any other ideas for this ^ sink drain?




(No - I won't get rid of my lovely gold sink fixtures - so don't even say it! :p)

[luxepiggy]

I actually have some of those silvery-colored metal drain strainers somewhere in the house... :o
They don't fit the butler's kitchen sink (a 69-yr-old sink with a non-standard oversized drain hole), and because I bought them at the dollar store (three for a dollar) it just wasn't worth the effort to go try to return them.

I wonder... where the heck did I put those stupid darn things, now??? :confused::ponder:

They'd ^ work in my shower/tub drain.


Dunno what to do, though, for the sink drain. I can't use those ^ - or anything else that dips down into the drain hole - because the sink fixtures include a pull-to-close/push-to-open stalk-style drain plug in the same gold-toned metal as the faucet handles.
I don't think anything will both fit around the drain strainer's circumference and hold it in place while I wash my hair in that sink... too much hair length moving around under the running faucet. sigh
Any other ideas for this ^ sink drain?




(No - I won't get rid of my lovely gold sink fixtures - so don't even say it! :p)


Get yourself a roll of waterproof tape and one of your mesh strainers that you have
Turn the strainer upside down, so the part that's supposed to go inside the drain makes a little dome, which should fit over the pretty drain plug
Tape down all the way around the edges
Wash hair
Peel tape, remove the strainer, clean & store until next timeYou'll have to do it every time you wash your hair, but such is the price you have to pay to retain your lovely gold sink fixtures (^(oo)^)

[aenflex]

HA HA

Not much of a chemist, then, are you, aenflex? :p

There's more 'chemicals' in Drano than in plain ole lye, and what's in Drano products is at least as dangerous as plain lye.

Each Drano product differs slightly ingredients-wise... but here's what's in 'em:
Water
Bleach Sodium Hypochlorite
Caustic Sodium Hydroxide
Builder Sodium Silicate
Cleaning Agent Proprietary Surfactant Blend
Dye (for coloring it - supposedly to differentiate between the different products, I think)

Drano is at least as dangerous to humans and pets...
Drano is weaker than plain lye (I personally don't choose to pay for a product whose primary ingredient - the first listed - is water. But it's a decent product for the average homeowner who isn't chemically knowledgeable or plumbing savvy.)
Drano costs a heck of a lot more than plain lye from the local hardware store.
Drano is no easier (nor harder) to use than lye.

Yeah, I know. While not I chemist, I can read the bottle. However when one starts a preamble with 'WARNING, do not attempt unless you are familiar with chemical or are a chemist or have a chemist helping you', I'm gonna at the very least assume that Drano is the easier and safer route since all I will do is uncap, pour and leave. No mixing and no knowledge required.

[StephanieB]

Get yourself a roll of waterproof tape and one of your mesh strainers that you have
Turn the strainer upside down, so the part that's supposed to go inside the drain makes a little dome, which should fit over the pretty drain plug
Tape down all the way around the edges
Wash hair
Peel tape, remove the strainer, clean & store until next timeYou'll have to do it every time you wash your hair, but such is the price you have to pay to retain your lovely gold sink fixtures
(^(oo)^)
:p:p:p@Oinkers! lmao


I used the sink drain strainer I've got (one of them) without taping it this morning. I just turned it over as you said (only this was before I was online today) and used it.

It ^ was a PitA because the drain strainer kept moving with my hair in the sink... but it was better than clogging up my drain, I'm sure.
Tape may be a PitA to clean off... but I think I'd rather do that than keep having to reach painfully and have to wash/rinse/condition/rinse one-handedly while keeping the other hand on that strainer. I'll have to get some waterproof tape somewhere... hopefully cheaply. A bit of Goo Gone will get rid of tape stickiness.


I also finger-combed my hair while washing and conditioning, as has been suggested, and kept putting the wet shed hair on the tile backsplash area of the wall behind the sink - tossing it into the trash can when done.
That was a lot of shed hair, too! (((o)))^(((o))) OMG!!

And even more hair caught on the upturned 'bump' of the drain strainer, as well!! :o

No wonder my drains have been giving me so much grief! :rolleyes:
And that ^ was just one wash day!


It's a day full of pouring rain... dark and miserable and w---e---t as hell!
Sooo... I used a bit of Nightblooming's Panacea Hair Salve on my blotted still-wet hair. And then a bit more on my hair after it dried. Nothing like that fabulous fragrance to 'lift' you on a rough day!! (and smooth frizzy hair)

[StephanieB]

Yeah, I know. While not I chemist, I can read the bottle. However when one starts a preamble with 'WARNING, do not attempt unless you are familiar with chemical or are a chemist or have a chemist helping you', I'm gonna at the very least assume that Drano is the easier and safer route since all I will do is uncap, pour and leave. No mixing and no knowledge required.
But that ^ is exactly my point: Drano is just as dangerous when used in same quantity as hubby & I use lye.

Hubby didn't mix a thing. He merely poured lye straight down the clogged drain full of standing dirty water.
The bomb bucket is 'just in case'. Better safe than sorry, especially when it's your face at risk of chemical burns from lye (or Drano)!

Drano can also explode upwards out of your drain at you (your face) if any small amount of water is run down that drain! It won't explode if you add a small amount of Drano to standing water - but if you add a bit of water to Drano, it sure as hell can explode!

Remember what you learned in Chemistry (even basic chemistry, in school) -
Always add acid (or base) to water, NOT water to acid (or base)!
Add strong to weak (or neutral), not the other way 'round.

[spidermom]

Not that I think you're yanking our chain or anything, but bending over a sink sounds so much harder on joints than standing or sitting in the shower would be. I hope you find a solution. My DH the plumber is vehemently against using anything caustic to remove clogs because sometimes it can react with something else that went down the drain and blow backwards, possibly injuring somebody (like the plumber). Also - anything that will dissolve hair will erode pipe fittings over time, then you'll get a caustic leak somewhere in your walls or floor. I have a pair of hemostats that I use to reach down and grasp the hair clog, then pull it out. It's kind of icky, but somebody has to do it, and I'm the long hair around here.

[StephanieB]

okay - why the double posts? :confused:

[StephanieB]

Not that I think you're yanking our chain or anything, but bending over a sink sounds so much harder on joints than standing or sitting in the shower would be. I hope you find a solution.


My DH the plumber is vehemently against using anything caustic to remove clogs because sometimes it can react with something else that went down the drain and blow backwards, possibly injuring somebody (like the plumber). Also - anything that will dissolve hair will erode pipe fittings over time, then you'll get a caustic leak somewhere in your walls or floor.


I have a pair of hemostats that I use to reach down and grasp the hair clog, then pull it out. It's kind of icky, but somebody has to do it, and I'm the long hair around here.
Paragraph One: Not really. Bending forward is easier on my spine than bending backwards (as you must do standing or seated in the shower)... Of course, in my case, being as it's my lower spine - sitting is harder than standing, even standing bent forward. Any pressure on my tailbone kills me within a few minutes. I have to sit on a 6 -inch thick soft foam cube, for example, in the wooden pews at church. D you have any idea just how thick six inches really is, to sit upon?! Or how tall it makes you sit/seem??

Paragraph Two: Your plumber hubby is quite right! We've had our share (and more!) of such caustic ceiling leaks! We have replaced our kitchen ceiling (my kitchen is right above my bathroom on the second floor) seven times in the past two years... and, IIRC, about 14 times in the past 30 months or so. It's a ROYAL PitA!! :(

Paragraph Three: I used to be an O.R. tech (and, ergo, have many such surgical instruments here) - and I have never ever seen 30-ft long hemostats. My clogs are usually about 30 feet down... maybe 20-25 feet - although this last was about 30 feet down... but rarely near the surface. sigh
No such luck for me! :rolleyes:

[skaempfer]

I guess it depends how your drain is made, but I use pliers to clean mine. There is a little cross in the drain and some off the hair is caught on that and I just pull til the whole thing comes up. Nasty, but Ihave to do this maybe once every two years.

[StephanieB]

Just to clarify what Drano actually is for everyone: The third ingredient listed on Drano's product labels is caustic sodium hydroxide, a/k/a lye.
Drano is, essentially, slightly watered-down lye. It's pricier than lye but/and it's watered down. They know most folks won't know that, and will pay extra money for water. But you still need to be just as careful with use of Drano as with lye! (Of course, using a capful of the diluted watered stuff is less dangerous than using a whole can and a half of the full-strength stuff...)


To whomever wanted to have fun with me and my bomb bucket: Be warned. It wasn't sufficient to contain the explosion in 1921 at Oppau... just sayin'. LMAO ;)
Although, we never had any dead, nor any seriously injured, here, during our blasts - never mind 561 dead/7000 injured.
Who says that fertilizer doesn't blow up in an explosion equivalent to one-quarter the size of the Hiroshima atomic bomb?

[Arya]

Have you ever thought of using the "welfare shower" technique? you could use it outside in the backyard on nice days, or in a basin in the sink. It might contain your hair better. My friend and I would use this method for showering our whole body AND washing our hair when one or the other utilities got turned off and we had to conserve heat or water. (and we both had mid back length hair). we'd just fill up two or three basins or pails with warm water and use that to wash.

If you wash your hair in a basin instead of under running water, you catch the sheds in your fingers or you can scoop em out of the basin before you dump it out to refill it for the next step. Washing your hair in a basin also stops it from getting caught in the sink drain and pulling it.
It's the running water that's pulling the sheds down the drain, so if you wash your hair in a basin AND use a sink trap, you'll stop having to replace your drains and ceiling!!!

[Immera]

I have a strainer over the tub drain and a basket like this one.

http://www.annaslinens.com/show_product/10084-42909/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=10084-42909

Not necessarily this one I've had it for years. Mine fits well cup side up.

It works well. I shed a bit and my SO has long hair and a long beard. We also have two shedding cats.

[luxepiggy]

:p:p:p@Oinkers! lmao


I used the sink drain strainer I've got (one of them) without taping it this morning. I just turned it over as you said (only this was before I was online today) and used it.

It ^ was a PitA because the drain strainer kept moving with my hair in the sink... but it was better than clogging up my drain, I'm sure.
Tape may be a PitA to clean off... but I think I'd rather do that than keep having to reach painfully and have to wash/rinse/condition/rinse one-handedly while keeping the other hand on that strainer. I'll have to get some waterproof tape somewhere... hopefully cheaply. A bit of Goo Gone will get rid of tape stickiness.

*snip*

http://www.amazon.com/UGlu-MSP401-Fabric-Tape-Black/dp/B001RCUQD6/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1291268468&sr=8-14

^No tape residue (^(oo)^)v