The bath has been draining more and more slowly, to the point where it took several hours for the water from a shower to completely go. So I've been trying to fix it with various forms of treatment.
Yesterday, I stuck a bit of bleach down it. This didn't help, and then I had to spend ages washing it down (a slow process because it's blocked…) so I didn't end up generating poisonous gases with anything else I tried
This morning, I tried the Internet's universal solution for everything: sodium bicarbonate and white vinegar. This fizzed nicely for a little while. Cleared the drain? Not even a bit
From the back of the cupboard under the sink, I dug out a bottle of drain unblocking gel. This was some off-brand thing from Wilko's (it still has the price label) which was originally bought by my housemates at the place before the last one, but never used; they left it behind when they moved out, and I took it with me to the last place, where it was also never used. Given that this means it's over twenty years old, I suspected it might not have retained all or even any of its powers, but I gave it a few goes. Each time, the gel initially stayed around the plughole but eventually worked its way down. It didn't do anything down there, though
So I gave in and accepted that I'd have to work out how the plug works, it being one of those things that you push down to toggle closed and open, the likes of which I've never dealt with before. The Internet suggested it would unscrew and it was right this time, for once I'd got the rubber gloves on and struggled with turning it for a few seconds, it suddenly gave way with a crack (as of something intended to turn coming free, not as of something breaking) and unscrewed easily. This gave me access to remove the hair that was clogging everything, which turned out not be a huge amount after all. But it was clearly enough, for I screwed the top back on and it's now draining freely again!
Yesterday, I stuck a bit of bleach down it. This didn't help, and then I had to spend ages washing it down (a slow process because it's blocked…) so I didn't end up generating poisonous gases with anything else I tried
This morning, I tried the Internet's universal solution for everything: sodium bicarbonate and white vinegar. This fizzed nicely for a little while. Cleared the drain? Not even a bit
From the back of the cupboard under the sink, I dug out a bottle of drain unblocking gel. This was some off-brand thing from Wilko's (it still has the price label) which was originally bought by my housemates at the place before the last one, but never used; they left it behind when they moved out, and I took it with me to the last place, where it was also never used. Given that this means it's over twenty years old, I suspected it might not have retained all or even any of its powers, but I gave it a few goes. Each time, the gel initially stayed around the plughole but eventually worked its way down. It didn't do anything down there, though
So I gave in and accepted that I'd have to work out how the plug works, it being one of those things that you push down to toggle closed and open, the likes of which I've never dealt with before. The Internet suggested it would unscrew and it was right this time, for once I'd got the rubber gloves on and struggled with turning it for a few seconds, it suddenly gave way with a crack (as of something intended to turn coming free, not as of something breaking) and unscrewed easily. This gave me access to remove the hair that was clogging everything, which turned out not be a huge amount after all. But it was clearly enough, for I screwed the top back on and it's now draining freely again!
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