What is inside a bath tub's pipes?

October 14, 2013 12:54 AM

I've just snaked my first tub. It went great. Now, just out of curiosity, what lives in a bathtub's pipes?

The usual blockage came out (I won't elaborate, as, if you've done this before, you know). However, the whole thing seemed mostly made of black (slightly greenish) mold. What is this? Is this "the" black mold?

I'm just curious to know is what spores live inside a bathtub pipes. Especially for these instances, when they get out...

posted by kettleoffish to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

No, it isn't deadly black mold. It's mostly decomposing hair.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:27 AM on October 14, 2013 [2 favorites]

i would think it is whatever you are putting down the pipe: hair, soap, shampoo, conditioner, hair color, etc.
posted by wildflower at 2:11 AM on October 14, 2013

Hair itself is really slow to decompose, but it gets tangled around mechanical obstructions and just hangs there, providing lots of surface area for other stuff to cling to.
posted by jon1270 at 4:21 AM on October 14, 2013

DO NOT EAT IT!

But seriously. It's normally a mixture of hair and soapy residue, the odd clegnut. There is mould, too, in waste pipes. There is mould in every waste pipe. There are, of course, mould spores everywhere.

Toxic black mould loves cellulose, which is why it loves water leakage onto something wooden/woody fibres.
posted by MuffinMan at 6:31 AM on October 14, 2013 [1 favorite]