Plumbing Question
November 13, 2018 4:31 PM Subscribe
My daughter just put a bath crayon down the bath drain. What should I do?
It's normal crayon length, but with a hard plastic shell, so there's no way it'll just dissolve down there. I assume every drain (even the bath) has a trap and that it's likely to get stuck in there. The bath drained, but I don't want it to just catch hair like crazy and clog up in a week. What is the right course of action and what are my options besides call a plumber and have them come snake it?
It's normal crayon length, but with a hard plastic shell, so there's no way it'll just dissolve down there. I assume every drain (even the bath) has a trap and that it's likely to get stuck in there. The bath drained, but I don't want it to just catch hair like crazy and clog up in a week. What is the right course of action and what are my options besides call a plumber and have them come snake it?
Best answer: That depends on whether the trap is screwed together or actually glued/soldered. And bathtubs generally do not have particularly accessible traps; it's usually buried in the floor joists. You could try fishing around in there with a bent coathanger or one of those zip-it drain snares, or a flexible grabber jobbie or some such. You're very unlikely to be able to apply enough force to do any damage, but at the same time you're also not very likely to get the crayon out. Maybe try hooking a shop vac up to the drain and sucking it out?
Or call a plumber and prepare to own the most expensive crayon of your life.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:22 PM on November 13, 2018 [5 favorites]
Or call a plumber and prepare to own the most expensive crayon of your life.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:22 PM on November 13, 2018 [5 favorites]
You can get a snake at a home improvement store and do it yourself. It isn't difficult, manual snake is cheaper than a plumber. Oftentimes the traps are inaccessible above a hard ceiling.
In ye olden days, builders would sometimes put a little access door in the other side of the wall the head of the tub is against. Not a bad plan either.
posted by rudd135 at 5:24 PM on November 13, 2018 [2 favorites]
In ye olden days, builders would sometimes put a little access door in the other side of the wall the head of the tub is against. Not a bad plan either.
posted by rudd135 at 5:24 PM on November 13, 2018 [2 favorites]
Shop vac may suck it up, can’t hurt to try and it just takes a minute, if you already own wet/dry vacuum cleaner.
I learned this trick from an old plumber called out to remove a lego that went down the bathtub drain. Worked like a charm, you may need to use some sort of wadding to get a good seal and best results.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:39 PM on November 13, 2018 [6 favorites]
I learned this trick from an old plumber called out to remove a lego that went down the bathtub drain. Worked like a charm, you may need to use some sort of wadding to get a good seal and best results.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:39 PM on November 13, 2018 [6 favorites]
It may be worth putting some water in the tub and trying a plunger on the drain. That could pull the crayon back to within reach of your fingers if you're quick
posted by cosmicbandito at 5:39 PM on November 13, 2018
posted by cosmicbandito at 5:39 PM on November 13, 2018
No drain pipes are soldered.
Go to Home Depot and get one of these.
Unscrew the grill cover on the drain and try to grab the crayon from there.
posted by humboldt32 at 5:41 PM on November 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
Go to Home Depot and get one of these.
Unscrew the grill cover on the drain and try to grab the crayon from there.
posted by humboldt32 at 5:41 PM on November 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'd dump boiling water down the drain.
posted by bq at 5:52 PM on November 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bq at 5:52 PM on November 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
No drain pipes are soldered
Yes, some are. It’s not common, but in the 50’s, at least, copper drains were a thing. My house has them.
(Apologies for the derail.)
posted by jon1270 at 6:10 PM on November 13, 2018 [3 favorites]
Yes, some are. It’s not common, but in the 50’s, at least, copper drains were a thing. My house has them.
(Apologies for the derail.)
posted by jon1270 at 6:10 PM on November 13, 2018 [3 favorites]
My first plan, Plan A, would be the shop vac. Put some rags or something around the outside at the point where you are hitting the drain to get the best seal you can.
I would try an opened shirt hanger you get from the cleaners. See if you can feel it. Try and hook it with a bend end. If it works, great. If it feels like it should work but you just cannot get it to come out, get one of those items humboldt32 recommended from HD.
The other thought if none of the above reasonable solutions are successful, is to try to break it into smaller pieces that will get through the trap.
posted by AugustWest at 7:14 PM on November 13, 2018
I would try an opened shirt hanger you get from the cleaners. See if you can feel it. Try and hook it with a bend end. If it works, great. If it feels like it should work but you just cannot get it to come out, get one of those items humboldt32 recommended from HD.
The other thought if none of the above reasonable solutions are successful, is to try to break it into smaller pieces that will get through the trap.
posted by AugustWest at 7:14 PM on November 13, 2018
Best answer: Honestly I’d just let it be. If it does become a giant hair tangle drain-clogger it will be a lot easier to fish out than a crayon.
posted by pintapicasso at 8:03 PM on November 13, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by pintapicasso at 8:03 PM on November 13, 2018 [10 favorites]
Water will be sucked up with a vac so make sure your vac is in wet mode (wet filters rather than paper). Also it can help to suck a while then poke around with a wire with a hook on it to reposition the blocking object. A plain washcloth makes a good seal between the drain and vac. You also need to block the drain vent at the round disk above the drain at the top of the tub. A second wet wash cloth works well for this though you may need to recruit another hand to hold it there.
humboldt32: "No drain pipes are soldered. "
I've got copper plumbing in my house, the small drains are soldered together. (The large drains are cast iron and could also be considered to be soldered together as the joints between sections are filled with lead poured over oakum). This was common in my area well into the 70s.
posted by Mitheral at 10:31 PM on November 13, 2018
humboldt32: "No drain pipes are soldered. "
I've got copper plumbing in my house, the small drains are soldered together. (The large drains are cast iron and could also be considered to be soldered together as the joints between sections are filled with lead poured over oakum). This was common in my area well into the 70s.
posted by Mitheral at 10:31 PM on November 13, 2018
Bubble Gum on the end of a stick? If you have another crayon, maybe check the plastic shell for dissolvability in industrial strength solvents that you probably shouldn't be putting down your drain. After the shop vac has sucked out the water and the crayon is still there in the U, it wouldn't take much bad stuff to cover it up and let the plastic dissolve away.
This is just if the sucky and grabby or open the trap things don't work out.
posted by zengargoyle at 5:59 AM on November 14, 2018
This is just if the sucky and grabby or open the trap things don't work out.
posted by zengargoyle at 5:59 AM on November 14, 2018
When I was laying pebble tiles in my new shower, a pebble I pulled off the mesh backing to place elsewhere got knocked down the drain. Shop vac got it right out.
posted by padraigin at 10:03 AM on November 14, 2018
posted by padraigin at 10:03 AM on November 14, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Particularly the shop vac is a good one, and I hadn't thought of it.
The drain itself goes sideways really fast, so the coat hanger didn't work. The plumber snaked (a while ago) via a panel just below the faucet, so I might try doing it there. Otherwise I'll try to get ahold of a shopvac from a neighbor or just wait until further problems develop.
posted by Phredward at 5:07 PM on November 16, 2018
The drain itself goes sideways really fast, so the coat hanger didn't work. The plumber snaked (a while ago) via a panel just below the faucet, so I might try doing it there. Otherwise I'll try to get ahold of a shopvac from a neighbor or just wait until further problems develop.
posted by Phredward at 5:07 PM on November 16, 2018
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If you can get to it, removing the trap (with a bucket underneath) isn't the most onerous thing ever. Should be relatively simple, if you have a large enough pipe wrench.
posted by hanov3r at 4:36 PM on November 13, 2018