I recently moved into a new place that’s great. It’s an old New England house, so it has a lot of unique features and character. There are narrow, hardwood floor boards, built in bay window seating. It’s a little small and the closets are at most two and a half feet deep and five foot wide, but the charm more than makes up for its few inconvenience. One aspect I really enjoy is the clawfoot bathtub, but an unclogged drain was needed in order for me to fully enjoy all the amenities of my new apartment.
Getting a good Soak
I lived with my father in his parents’, my grandparents, house for about ten years. We had an old craftsman style bathroom that had penny tile floors, the individual tiles before they came in sheets which are a bear to lay, a clawfoot tub for soaking, beautiful molding… It was a nice bathroom. I got in the habit of taking baths while I was there and it was a good way for me to relax and engage with my senses. Historically, relaxing hasn’t been easy for me. But that was one way that I was able to take things a little slower. Light some candles, get cozy and just unwind.
My aunt and uncle had a hot tub at their place when they lived in Vermont that I would use occasionally. My cousins, sibling and I would get together, have a beer or two and talk about whatever. The nights were cold and the conversation amicable, the stars bright and it was one of the few times I remember being comfortable around my family. So capturing that essence and creating that space for myself was something that was and is an important step towards being independently content. Not contingent on another person, substance, or context other than just the time I am taking for myself. So you can imagine how excited I was when I found that our new place had a clawfoot bathtub.
The First Bath in My New Place
After we moved in and got a little settled, I decided to break in the bathtub. I like the evening hours for relaxing, so I waited till the apartment was quiet, readied my tubby-time kit, and began drawing my bath.
The drain was running a little slow, but I didn’t think anything of it. I filled the tub with hot water obviously, but not so hot that I’d scald myself dipping in. Just enough to feel the comfort of being held by the water. I dropped my cherry bath bomb, set up my tray with a drink, some tunes and got ready to relax.
A Clean Tub = A Relaxing Bath
When I got in the tub, it was nice, but my feet were sliding around at the foot by the drain. I thought it was weird, but went about my business. After I was sufficiently soaked, I drained the bath. It was running slow, which was the first indication that it was clogged, but I didn’t think much of it and made a mental note to look into it. But after getting dressed and looking at the emptied tub, I saw a reddish brown film on the floor and walls. This was no bueno.
I’m not above leaving a few dishes in the sink, but when it comes to a living space with slime in the bathtub, that’s where I draw the line. And the fact that the drain was running slowly was an indication that there was a sizable mass of something clogging the drain. My roommate and I both have man buns and the most likely culprit was our hair. So I rolled up my sleeves and took the deep dive into unclogging the tub. But first it needed a deep clean.
Scrubbing the Tub
I readied my cleaning supplies; all purpose cleaner, a sponge and some baking soda, and went to town on my tub. The film was a brownish-red color, and when I did some research on it I found that what was on the bottom of my bathtub was pink mold. It’s gross, but not dangerous. The mold feeds on fats and minerals and loves humid conditions. So the bathtub is the perfect incubator. Especially since the drain, clogged with hair, was catching everything that was being washed down it and then letting the mold propagate in the lukewarm water unchecked.
The mold was concentrated around the clogged drain, but radiated out to about halfway up the walls and floor of the tub. It wasn’t difficult to clean, and when I finished, the tub looked good. With a clean tub, I was then able to unclog the drain from its debris.
A Tangled Mess, How I Unclogged My Drain
The Clog
Because the tub is old, the drain is a little different than most I’ve seen. But the type of drain, lift and turn, is ubiquitous and parts readily available at most hardware stores. Below you can see the drain in its entirety. I cleaned the pink mold to spare you the visual (; Read on to see how I took apart and unclogged my drain.
To get at the clog, I had to unscrew the knob, the fluted metal nub that screwed into the popup, on top of the metal disk called the stopper. The stopper is the metal disk that is attached to the popup via a threaded hole in the center, and has a rubber gasket around the rim that stops the water from draining while you’re taking a bath. I removed both by unscrewing the knob, then stopper from the popup, a screw that protrudes perpendicular from the bottom middle of the drain flange. The flange is the base that everything is attached to, and sits in the hole of the tub that leads to the drain line. All together, the knob, stopper, popup and flange, assemble to form what we think of as the drain.
Below you can see the knob unscrewed from the top of the popup. It was stuck from years of soapy residue and buildup, but it came off with a little elbow grease and help from a pair of pliers.
I then unscrewed the stopper from the popup as seen below. The way a lift and turn style drain works is; to keep the drain open, you need to lift the stopper by the knob, twist it a bit in either direction so the teeth on the bottom of the stopper rest on the bars on the bottom of the flange. This allows water to flow into the drain line. To close it, you twist it again in either direction, and the teeth fit into the holes between the bars on the base of the flange snugly like pegs in a hole. Below you can see all parts of the drain deconstructed. And here is a video of a drain kit being installed, similar to mine for a clear visual.
Unclogging the Drain
Luckily, most of the clog was around the popup. Using a pair of pliers I pulled the clog from out of the drain easily. You can see below how much hair had accumulated over time. It’s not the prettiest photo, but no one said that unclogging a drain was Instagram worthy : )
After I pulled the clog, I poured a little chemical drain cleaner down the drain for good measure even though the drain seemed to be running fast. I let it stand for 15-20 minutes, then flushed it with boiling water. The drain was running fast afterwards and the tub is now clean enough to soak in again.
Avoiding a Tangly Mess
Now that I’ve unclogged the tub, I don’t want to have to keep cleaning a mass of soapy hair periodically from my drain. My roommate and I both have man buns, so it’s inevitable that we will find ourselves with a slow or clogged drain again. Now I’m looking for ways to prevent the clog from happening and the method that’s worked best for me in the past was a simple mesh wire drain cover.
The ones I’ve used dip into the drain to catch whatever washes down it. But seeing as how I have a lift and turn drain, it’s not possible to use this style drain catch unless I remove the stopper and all its parts. Though if you have a drain with no stopper, this may be a good option for you. They’re inexpensive, functional, and a satisfyingly simple solution.
I’m opting for a weighted drain catch that domes upwards and above the drain instead of dipping down into it. It’s weighted, so hopefully it won’t slide around on the tub floor, or be tossed around by the running water. They look like a simple solution to my problem. And the simpler the better in my opinion. I’ll be giving it a go, and I’ll keep you posted in an update or on my resources page.
Relax & Go with the Flow
Now that my drain is unclogged and clean, I plan on taking baths on a regular basis. As I’m writing this, I’ve finished all the domestics that needed doing and am going to wrap up the day with a good soak and then climbing into some clean sheets. So friends, if you are faced with a slow running, or clogged tub drain, fear not. It is most likely something you can unclog on your own and feel accomplished for doing it afterwards. But if it’s beyond your ability, there’s no shame in calling in an expert. And while we’re on the subject, I’m not an expert on unclogging drains. So if you do have any questions, getting the opinion of a licensed plumber is probably your best option. So relax, burn a few candles, bust out the scented bath salts, grab your favorite beverage and let the feeling of warm, clean water, wash over and greet you in its peaceful and welcoming tidings 🙂 Peace & thanks for reading 🏔️🌙🕯️(: