If you, or someone you live with, has long tresses, you’ve most likely dealt with this problem over and over again.

The shower drain is clogged with hair.

It’s gross, but luckily, this is an easy fix. Read on for some tips on how to unclog your hair-filled drain.

Boiling water

This is the first thing you should try. Simply boil a pot of water and pour it straight down the drain. The water can loosen up soap or other agents that are keeping the hair in the drain. Wait a few seconds, then try out the shower.

The old baking soda and vinegar trick

But sometimes, the clog is bad enough that just using boiling water won’t be enough, so you need to resort to stronger measures. We love this hack: not only is it simple to execute, you probably have a lot of the ingredients already sitting in your kitchen.

Heat 2 or 4 liters of water on your stove or in a kettle to just short of boiling. Add about 1/2 cup of salt. Try pouring this down the drain, then wait 15 minutes before seeing if it will clear more easily.

If you need a stronger cleaning, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain, then add 1/2 cup of vinegar. The two ingredients will create a chemical reaction that's excellent at cleaning out clogs. Wait 15 minutes, then pour in very hot water to clear out the residual clogging agent and cleaner. If you really don't like the smell of vinegar, you can try using lemon juice instead, because the acidity has a similar effect.

Use a plumbing snake

If you own one, a plumbing snake is a tool that is made for these types of clogs! Push the snake into the drain, turn the handle once you find the clog, and then pull out the hair.

Use a coat hanger or another type of hook

If you don’t own a plumbing snake, that’s OK. A hook is another easy way to remove hair from your drain. Take an old coat hanger and stick that into the drain, using the hook to pull out the hair.

Put your hand down the drain

While not for the faint of heart, this method requires no tools whatsoever – just your hand (though we recommend putting on rubber gloves first!) You might want to take a flashlight for assistance in spotting the clump of hair.

How to prevent hair from clogging your drain

It may seem that having hair stuck in your drain is inevitable, but there are some things you can do to prevent it.

Try brushing your hair before you get in the shower so that your hair ends up on the brush rather than in the drain. You can also buy a drain protector, which you can find for around $10 and are effective at keeping hair out.

Need a little extra help unclogging your drain? Give your local Benjamin Franklin Plumbing a call – we are always here to help! Call us at 1-877-BEN-1776, or contact us online.