Miracle

It started about a month ago. I started to discovered my feet under soap scummy water mid way through my shower. The tub was not draining well and it was causing a bad soap scum build up in the tub. This is when I began the shower dance. I would swipe my foot over the honeycombed cover dislodging any of the hair that had collected and stamping on the drain as if to plunge it with the ball of my foot.

We tried the plunger. It hinted at change but really things didn’t improve. We would get a good “glug glug” of water movement then nothing.

We tried a snake. You know one of those metal ribbons that are supposed to go down and either grab or break up the clog.  We discovered that there is a metal cross bar about two inches down the drain. Impassable for the end of the snake.

We removed the long defunct drain plug assembly. There was no sign of a hair build up on it.

All this did not show any change in the flow of the drain. I continued my shower dance. Something that began to feel superstitious and in effective but gave me a sense that I was trying to remedy the probklem

I was reluctant to use drain-o or other such heavy chemical in the tub where my chemically sensitive son sits his naked butt or where I stand with bare feet. Especially since many of those really don’t work on slow drains just clogged drains.

So after an internet search I tried vinegar and baking soda. A few days later we tried some color safe bleach. Still no changes.

Nothing was working and the problem seemed to be getting worse. I decided that I would try an enzyme cleaner. More gentle on the pipes not chemically smell. So we tried that a week ago. There was a small change but nothing much I was considering a second dose after my shower this morning.

Because of that decision I decided that I would contribute to the clog and shaved my legs. I have always thought that shaving in the tub although convenient causes drains have more build up than if one did not.

So after shaving and in the midst of washing my hair I felt the water reach my ankle. Out of habit I swiped my foot across the drain and stomped on it. Suddenly and most unexpectedly I heard a slight sucking noise. I turned and longed at the drain as the sucking gave way to a loud glug. I could see the tell-tale whirlpool of an active and clean drain drawing out the water from the tub. It was surprising since it had happened so suddenly and because it was so loud. I kept expecting the kids to come running up telling me where the pipe had burst and that the kitchen was flooding.

That didn’t happen and I was no longer standing I water. I finished my shower and rinsed the tub better than it had been in weeks. The sudden clearing of the drain seemed so much like a miracle to me this morning.