How to avoid hair clogs in a new bathroom?

June 20, 2012 12:55 PM

My dream bathroom would include a sink that never clogs with hair. How close can I come to making this a reality?

I actually am re-doing my bathroom, so I have complete leeway to do whatever is possible to avoid hair clogs in the sink. Is there something on the level of plumbing, or fixtures, or sinks, or add-on gizmos, that would make it so I don't have to clear gunky hair out of a clogged sink every few months?

posted by malhouse to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Best answer: Start with bigger drain lines. Most plumbers use 1.5inch drain lines. Use 2in.
posted by Flood at 1:05 PM on June 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

Best answer: If you don't need to fill the sink with water very often, something like this would keep hair from getting into the pipes in the first place.
posted by jon1270 at 1:08 PM on June 20, 2012

Most bathroom drains hair-clog at the sink stopper, when hair wraps around the flanges. If there's a design that avoids that problem, you should not have issues unless you are stuffing wigs down there.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:18 PM on June 20, 2012

Most bathroom drains hair-clog at the sink stopper, when hair wraps around the flanges. If there's a design that avoids that problem, you should not have issues unless you are stuffing wigs down there.

Simple. Remove the stopper mechanism (and seal-off the access port) then use one of these.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:04 PM on June 20, 2012

There's a type of plughole that is operated via a rod (usually behind the taps) - we have one in one of our bathrooms. Pulling up the stopper brings out a long threaded rod with a round plastic part that sits deep in the plughole. I have no idea what it's called, but ours does a fine job of collecting hair.
posted by pipeski at 3:30 PM on June 20, 2012

Best answer: IANAP[lumber]. I have found the only things in my bathroom that get hair-logged are the stoppers or drain strainer things. When the stopper in my sink broke off that connecting rod thing 2 years ago I went from having to clean hair and soap scum off of the stopper every couple months when it would clog the sink to never having to clean anything off and never having clogs. (Well OK except when I dropped a toothpaste cap down there that then got stuck.)

Also when I wasn't taking baths at all for a few years, I removed the tub stopper and had no clogs at all that whole time. When I put the stopper back in it now collects hair and clogs every few months.

That said, there's probably a reason those things are there, which is likely to collect hair at a place that is relatively easy to clean. Maybe in 5 years a hair monster will rise from my sewer pipes and I'll regret ever removing my stoppers.
posted by MonsieurBon at 3:39 PM on June 20, 2012

Don't get a sink with a pull stopper. The mechanism tends to be a catcher for hair. Simple is better. If you need to fill the basin with water, then use a removable stopper.
posted by JJ86 at 5:56 PM on June 20, 2012

Start with bigger drain lines. Most plumbers use 1.5inch drain lines. Use 2in.

Seconding this. It also reminds me of when I was stationed in Germany and there were no plungers. Anywhere. I'm sure they were around for specialized use, but toilets didn't need them because every single toilet had a super-wide mouth that I assume was the same width as the sewer pipe (usually 4" in the US). They just no not clog, no matter how much Taco Bell you eat.
posted by Evilspork at 7:50 PM on June 20, 2012

Wait, hair clogs in the sink? Stop brushing your hair over the sink. I sweep up a lot of my medium-long hair off the bathroom floor, but the only hair in the sink is my husband's shaving stubble.
posted by aimedwander at 7:35 AM on June 21, 2012