Grassroots Plumbingsports - help me clear a clogged tub drain

Working on clearing the tub drain in my GF's new house. It's been problematic since purchase some months ago, so no idea what's in there. So far we've tried several of the enviro-friendly cleaners, with limited success, but it's still draining slowly. The house is on a septic, so we're trying to minimize the use of caustic nastiness as far as possible. I'm thinking a mechanical solution may be required here, but short of getting one of those powered snake rigs, I'm not sure about other options. The tub area has one of those Bathfitter plastic shell things installed, so access is probably not good. My plumbing knowledge is quite limited (as in water comes in, water goes out - when one doesn't happen it's bad), so use small words.

Can't really snake a tub.  Fill it with water until it clogs, then take off the overflow cap and stuff rags in it.  Take a plunger to the bottom drain and pump until it clears.  Also get a pair of needle nose pliers and a flat screwdriver and get the hair clumps out of the catch in the drain.

Have you cleaned out the drain of hair build up? I have to clean ours out every few months.  I use a short piece of coat hanger with a small hook, remove the drain cover and slip the hook a few inches down and spin the hook around. You should snag a bunch of hair , repeat until you stop pulling out gunk.

My GF tried to clean the drain manually, but I'm not sure what tools she used. I'll go at it with an array of stuff and see if anything works, then try the fill-and-plunge method. Thanks.

If it uses a lever on the vent cover for the stopper, remove the vent cover and carefully lift the stopper out so you can clean all the hair and nasty stuff off it. 

While it's out you can run a short snake through from the vent to try to pull out any hair that didn't come out with the stopper.  Depending on the trap configuration you might not get too far with the snake, but if you're lucky the clog is close to the drain so you don't need to get past the trap to clear it. 

It's likely hair-based. Get an enzyme-based cleaner for hair clogs at a local store.  If you try the regular grocery store Draino it probably won't touch it.

I've had good luck with one of these, pretty sure I got it at Home Depot
 

Steve_Jones said:

I've had good luck with one of these, pretty sure I got it at Home Depot
 

 

These are the ticket. 

I keep a small plunger in the master bath just for the shower--a few times a year, it helps. 

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

Steve_Jones said:

I've had good luck with one of these, pretty sure I got it at Home Depot
 

 

These are the ticket. 

I'm just going to quote this quote because I use one to remove a wookies worth of nastiness several times per year. Somehow those with long hair are not the ones who have to use is. Life is so unfair. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Funny how that happens. 

Sounds like a workable solution has been proposed.  So...

Shotgun?

Is the trap easily accessible? If so, take it out and clean it. That's where most of the clogs live.

Plan B is the garden hose.  Remove the grate from the drain and let the tub fill with a few inches of water (this helps reduce back splash).  Then using a good pressure nozzle (the brass type you twist to adjust) put the end in the drain and blast away. Wrapping a rag around the nozzle for a better seal helps a little too. I wouldn't use a power washer for this...

Check the mechanism that closes off the drain as well. Water flows through some types when they are in the open position and get full of gunk that can cause a slow drain too. Remove the 2 screws by the lever and the whole thing will pull right out. With it out of the way you can also run the hose down this as well and get a better shot into the trap.

Pleased to report that the fill-block overflow-plunge routine worked, so I didn't have to go any further. All draining properly now. Thanks folks.