Inspired by a helpful YouTube guide. We based this walk-through on the video "UNBLOCK a Shower Tray Waste in MINUTES", which uses the correct UK plumbing terminology throughout - "waste" rather than "drain trap" - and shows clearly how to access and clear the blockage without removing the tray. Good close-up footage of the twist-and-pull method.
1. Remove the drain cover
Most shower tray waste covers either unscrew (one central screw, usually a cross-head or flat slot) or pull straight up with a gentle tug. If yours has not been off in a while it may be stuck down with soap scum - wiggle it side to side rather than forcing it.
Set the cover somewhere you can clean it in a moment. A lot of the blockage tends to sit right on or just under it.
2. Pull out the blockage by hand
Put on a pair of rubber gloves - this is the unpleasant part. Most blockages are a matted plug of hair sitting just inside the waste opening. Grip it and pull straight up. It usually comes out in one go.
If you can see more debris below, use your fingers or a bent wire coat hanger to hook it out. Do not push it down further - that just moves the problem deeper into the pipe.
3. Use a drain clearing tool
A flexible drain snake or a Drain Weasel (a plastic strip with small barbs) reaches further down the waste pipe than your fingers can. Feed it in gently, twist it a quarter turn, then pull back slowly. The barbs catch and hold the hair so you can draw it out.
These cost a few pounds from any DIY shed and are worth having in the house. They work on baths and basin wastes too.
4. Try a bicarbonate of soda and vinegar treatment
If the drain is slow but not fully blocked, a bicarbonate treatment can shift the soap scum coating the pipe walls. Pour half a mug of bicarbonate of soda down the waste, follow it with the same amount of white vinegar, and leave it to fizz for 15 minutes.
Finish with a kettle of hot (not boiling) water poured slowly down the drain. Repeat if needed. This is gentler on older plastic waste pipes than chemical unblockers, which can soften certain plastics with repeated use.
5. Use a plunger if the drain is fully blocked
A cup plunger - the kind with a flat rubber head, not the flange type - works well on a shower tray waste. Block any overflow with a wet cloth, make sure there is enough water in the tray to cover the plunger head, and pump firmly a dozen times.
The suction usually shifts whatever is sitting in the trap below the waste. Follow up with hot water to flush it through.
6. Flush through and replace the cover
Run the shower for a minute to confirm it drains freely. If it is draining at a normal speed - water clearing the tray promptly rather than pooling - you are done. Refit the cover and give it a clean while it is off.
Worth fitting a hair catcher over the waste if you do not already have one. They are inexpensive and save doing this every few months.
When to call a handyman
Call Richard if the drain stays slow after all the above, or if there is an unpleasant smell that persists - that can point to a problem further down the soil stack rather than just in the waste. Gurgling from other drains when the shower runs is also worth getting looked at.
Need drainage or plumbing help?
The Sandwich Handyman can clear blocked wastes, replace shower trays, and sort drainage problems across Sandwich and the surrounding East Kent area.
Contact Richard