Bathroom drains, kitchen drains, probably every drain in your house gets blocked at some point and it can be a pain to get them clear again.
We recently had that exact problem, with the bath taking an age to drain and filling up with water when showering.
While we make the effort to clear the plughole after showers - if you don't count the kids that is - they can easily become clogged with hair, soap and grime.
Our guess was that our daughter's long hair was responsible, but try as we might nothing would shift it.
The popular method of mixing white vinegar with bicarbonate of soda didn't make a difference, neither did one of the shop bought unblocker liquids.
But trying to avoid an expensive call out, I came across the advice of a plumber on the best way to deal with such clogs.
Justin Cornforth, the CEO at Ace Plumbing, was discussing how the vinegar and bicarb mixture 'does nothing with hair and bathroom clogs'. Instead, he recommended a more hands-on approach using a drain snake, which he describes as an 'excellent tool'.
Advising against settling for just any drain snake; he suggested one made from 'flexible durable materials' like stainless steel, to avoid the risk of it breaking inside the pipe unlike its cheap plastic counterparts. For those needing an immediate fix without a drain snake at hand, he advised using a wire coat hanger - straightening the hanger but leaving a small hook on one end to fish out any hair causing the blockage.
Join our Family WhatsApp group HERE
Without a wire coat hanger, ordering a drain snake from Amazon seemed the easiest option and I picked up this LiteTour drain hole cleaning tool for just £4.99.
At 61 inches long and with hundreds of positive reviews, I had high hopes it would be up to the job.
After first poking it into the bath plughole, nothing much happened. But I persisted and made sure I pushed the flexible metal tube all the way in as far as it would reach and that's when the hair began to emerge - long strands of it.
I probably did about five pokes altogether, giving it a twist around while it was inside the drain, and each time a bit more hair came out attached to the bristles on the end.
The end result was a big clump of long brown hair - no prizes for guessing whose - which fell into a heart shape inside the bath. Trust me, the shape was the only loveable thing about it. Well that and the fact that my bath drain was finally running clear.
It was quite possibly the best fiver I've ever spent and I've no doubt it will come in useful time and time again. You just have to make sure you don't lose it down the drain altogether, but this one does have a circle on the end to hold onto and prevent it going all the way in.
The single-headed drain snake I used was £4.99, or they do a two-headed one for deeper cleaning costing £6.99.
There are loads more available though, including this two-pack Drain Snake Unblocker for £3.99 at B&Q, and this longer 1.32m Rothenberger Pipe and Drain Cleaning Coil costing £14.99 from Screwfix.
Plumber Justin recommends that after removing hair clumps, if the blockage persists, pouring boiling water down the drain may help clear any remaining obstruction, but bear in mind that it could potentially damage plastic pipes.
If you're using the hot water method on any plastic pipe, which is common in the bathroom sink, then it's advisable to let the boiled water cool down a bit before using.
While it's the priciest option, sometimes a professional plumber is necessary to tackle particularly stubborn blockages.
