unclogging a bathtub with a wash cloth and a milk jug!

Unclogging a bathtub with a washcloth and a milk jug?

If you have already tried a chemical compound such as liquid plumber, un-successfully, do not proceed. The remaining chemicals produce a risk of serious injury and chemical burn to the hands, face, and eyes.
Yeah. It can be done. The bathtub will often throw people for a loop because when you use the plunger, you can hear all of the water rushing through the over flow. That is where most of the trouble lies with unclogging a bathtub. The typical use of a plunger uses hydraulics to force the movement of a blockage. Unfortunately, the water will follow the path of least resistance. That will end up being the drain vent.

1. The first thing you will have to do is take the two screws out of the vent / overflow on the bathtub. You will then need to pull up and outward on the cover. Some of the bathtub drains have the plugging mechanism in the overflow. These overflows are fitted with a little flip lever in them. You will have to remove the drain mechanism completely.

2. Once you have removed that part of the bathtub drain assembly you will need to saturate a thick wash cloth and stuff it snugly into the drain overflow. Use caution to be sure the wash cloth fits tight and still make sure it can be reached and removed. You can control this by how you feed it down the pipe. You want the washcloth to seal the pipe from escaping air or water. The purpose is to create a sealed system. A sealed system allows the pressure to build up and follow the path of least resistance. The quality of your “washcloth seal” will need to be more secure than the hair clog in the drainpipe.

3. You will now need to fill the bathtub half way with water. Hot water is more likely to help with cutting soap scum that might be holding your hair clog in place. Please make sure the water is not hot enough to cause yourself injury when placing your hands in the water.

4. Fill a milk jug or water jug with hot water as well.

5. Invert the jug quickly and place it in the tubs bottom drain. In the same motion, apply violent force to the milk jugs bottom face. This will crush the milk jug, thus forcing all of the water into the drain. This might need to be repeated as many as twenty times, but it can be successful the first time as well. Keep an eye on your washcloth seal, listen for escaping air or water from around the washcloth. I will try to make illustrations that show how and why it works. I hope that with all of that, you are able to see what is making this work, and the importance of tight seals.