Quick answer
Remove the shower tray grate (lift or unscrew). Pull the cup or insert out of the removable trap by lifting it and clean out the hair and soap. Run a hair hook down the pipe. Refit, pour in a glass of vinegar and hot water. If the tray still will not drain with the trap clean, the blockage is in the wall pipe and needs a drain snake.
What you need
- Rubber gloves
- Phillips screwdriver in case the grate has a central screw
- Small kitchen or hanging suction cup to lift grates with no screw
- Plastic hair hook with teeth (Wolfpack or Bricodepot, 2-4 €)
- Torch
- Old toothbrush
- Cleaning vinegar (1-2 €)
- Concentrated washing-up liquid
- Silicone hair catcher for the shower grate (2-4 €)
- Spare 90 mm removable trap if the old one is broken (Wirquin or Jimten, 12-25 € at Leroy Merlin)
- Bin bag for the hair
Step by step
- 1
Remove the grate
Check whether the grate has a central screw: if so, unscrew it. If not, stick the suction cup on and pull up, or twist it a quarter turn. Do not lever with a screwdriver on the edge of the tray.
- 2
Lift out the trap cup
With gloves on, grip the cup or insert of the trap. Bayonet ones turn a quarter turn anticlockwise and then lift out; push-fit ones pull straight out. Drop the cup into a bag, it will be full of hair and sludge.
- 3
Clear the hair from the trap and the pipe
Pull the hair off the insert by hand. Push the hair hook down the drain hole, twist and pull. Repeat until it comes out clean. Use the torch to check the outlet pipe is clear.
- 4
Wash the cup and the seals
Clean the cup with hot water, washing-up liquid and the toothbrush. Remove limescale from the seals with vinegar. If a seal is split or the cup has a crack, replace the whole trap.
- 5
Refit and test
Seat the cup back in place (turn clockwise if bayonet) and refit the grate. Throw in a bucket of water in one go: it should drain in 5 seconds without pooling in the tray.
- 6
Vinegar and hot water
Pour a glass of vinegar down the drain, leave for 30 minutes and rinse with hot water from the tap. Fit the hair catcher over the grate.
- 7
If you have a floor gully or a bath
For the gully, unscrew the lid in the floor (turn anticlockwise; if it is stiff with limescale, vinegar and 20 minutes), scoop out the sludge with a cup, clear the pipe inlets with the hook and refit. For a bath, remove the plug or grate, run the hook down the waste and use the plunger with the overflow covered.
Why the shower will not drain: trap types and where the hair sits
Modern shower trays (resin, ceramic or acrylic) have a removable 90 mm trap: under the grate there is a plastic cup or insert that lifts out or twists a quarter turn. That is where the hair, soap and limescale sit. Older tiled showers and baths drain to a floor gully (bote sifónico) in the bathroom floor, with a round 10-15 cm lid, which also takes the basin and bidet wastes. And some tiled showers have a membrane trap or an S-shaped PVC trap under the tray, with no access from above.
In a removable trap, 90 % of blockages are in plain view: a wad of hair wound round the insert. In a floor gully, the bottom fills with soap and limescale sludge and the inlet pipes clog with hair. In traps with no access, the blockage is dealt with from the drain with a hook and snake, or from the gully. Unblocking a bath is the same as an old tray: the waste has a plug or a grate, and the hair sits in the first bend, 10-20 cm down.
The test to find out where it is: with the trap clean and refitted, throw in a bucket of water in one go. If it drains in 5 seconds, you are done. If it drains slowly, the wall pipe has soap and limescale and needs a snake. If it does not drain at all, or water comes up from the toilet when you flush, the blockage is in the shared branch or the stack, and that needs the machine.
Mistakes when unblocking a shower or bath: grate, bayonet and chemicals
The most common mistake is forcing the grate. The steel grates on resin trays clip in with two tabs or are screwed in the centre; if you lever with a screwdriver, it bends and no longer sits flat. Check whether it has a central screw, whether it twists, or whether it lifts with a small suction cup. The second is pulling the trap cup out without turning it: many are bayonet fit and the tabs snap. A quarter turn anticlockwise, then up.
The third is chemicals. In a shower tray the gel sits in the trap cup, never reaches the compacted hair and, when you lift the cup out, it runs onto your hand. It also damages the trap's rubber seals, which then drip under the tray unseen until a stain appears on the neighbour's ceiling. Hair is pulled out, not dissolved.
And the fourth, in baths: using the plunger without covering the overflow. The pressure escapes through the hole at the top and the plunger does nothing. Block the overflow with a wet cloth and your hand before you pump.
When to call a professional
Call when the trap is clean and the tray still will not drain, when you cannot find access to the trap (tiled showers with a membrane trap under the tiles), when the floor gully lid is fused shut with limescale and will not open, or when water comes up into the shower when you flush the toilet or the washing machine empties. Also if the tray drains but there is a sewer smell: usually a trap seal letting the water seal escape.
Unblocking a shower costs 70-120 € including call-out, and 110-180 € if the snake machine has to go down the wall pipe or in from the floor gully. Replacing the tray's trap, if it is broken or calcified, is 20-40 € more in parts. Full prices in how much drain unblocking costs and the service in drain unblocking. We arrive in 20-45 minutes in Valencia, Alicante, Torrevieja and Benidorm and in 30-60 in Dénia, Jávea, Calpe and Altea.
Local pages: drain unblocking in Benidorm, in Torrevieja and in Dénia. If it is the tap or the shower screen that is at fault, see our plumber.
Limescale, beach sand and coastal showers
In beach homes the shower trap takes two things that do not exist inland: sand and very hard water. Beach sand settles in the bottom of the trap cup and, mixed with soap and limescale, sets into a grey cement that closes the outlet in a season. In holiday apartments in Benidorm or Torrevieja we clean traps in June and in September, and both times they come out full of sand.
What we recommend: rinse your feet in the outdoor shower or a bowl before you go in, a silicone hair catcher over the grate (2-4 €), and a glass of cleaning vinegar down the drain once a month followed by hot water to dissolve the limescale before it hardens. In second homes, when you lock up, fill the trap with water and a spoonful of oil so it does not evaporate and smells do not rise from the stack.
Related guides
If the basin in the same bathroom also drains badly, follow how to unblock a bathroom basin. If the tray is clean and the water still does not go down, the problem is further along: how to clear a badly blocked pipe. And for the limescale on the shower screen, how to clean limescale off a shower screen.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to unblock a shower?
Between 70 and 120 € including call-out if it is solved by cleaning the trap and running a hand snake, and between 110 and 180 € if the machine has to go down the wall pipe or in from the floor gully. Fixed price before starting and a 6-month written guarantee on the labour.
How do I unblock the shower if the grate will not come off?
Some grates are stuck down with silicone or clipped with hidden tabs. Try a small suction cup or a Stanley knife around the edge to cut the silicone. If it will not give, work the hair hook between the slots of the grate: it usually pulls out most of the hair. If not, call us and we will remove it without damaging the tray.
Does the same method work for a blocked bath?
Yes. The bath waste has a plug or grate and the hair sits in the first bend. Remove the plug, run the hook down, use the plunger with the overflow covered by a wet cloth and finish with vinegar and hot water. If the bath drains to a floor gully, clean it as in step 7.
Why does water come up into the shower when I flush the toilet?
The bathroom's shared branch or the stack is blocked and the toilet water looks for the lowest outlet, which is the shower tray. It is not a shower blockage and home methods will not work. It needs the snake machine from the floor gully or the inspection chamber, and sometimes a camera.
What do I do if the shower smells of sewage even though it drains fine?
The trap has lost its water seal: by evaporation after weeks of no use, or through a dripping seal. Pour in a bucket of water and wait a day. If the smell comes back, lift the trap cup out and check the seals; if one is split, replace the whole trap, which costs 12-25 €.