Showering is supposed to make you feel clean and fresh, since it’s what you do to remove the dirt on your body and hair, right?
But how are you supposed to feel clean, if you step into the shower and you instantly get a whiff of a horrible smell?
It’s absolutely the worst when your shower drain stinks, for any number of reasons, because it makes your shower feel dirty, and therefore you don’t really feel like using it to clean yourself.
But why does your shower drain smell? And can you fix it?
Shower drains can smell bad for a wide number of different reasons, and as a general rule, most of them can be easily fixed by using the right cleaning product or tool.
Usually, it’s simply that the shower drain has become clogged up with certain things, and as they are stuck in the drain, rotting away, they’re stinking up the whole system.
In order to help you deal with this kind of situation, we’re going to tell you about some of the main causes of certain types of shower drain smells, and how to fix them with the right solution.
Let’s get right into it!
Reasons Why Your Shower Drain Smells Musty
One of the most common bad smells in a shower drain, or any drain, is a musty smell.
And the main cause of this is that there is mold growing in your drain. The musty smell specifically comes from the active mold spores, which release puffs of gas every so often, with that distinct strong smell.
If it’s strong enough that you’ve taken notice of it, you will attest that it smells incredibly bad, but on top of that, it can also be dangerous.
Mold in a shower drain, and its musty smell can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and similar health problems. So it’s definitely something that needs to be remedied!
If the active mold colonies within your shower drain are less than 10 square feet, then you should be able to apply a solution yourself, and we’ll tell you exactly how to do it!
You Will Need
- Baking soda
- White distilled vinegar
- Boiling hot water
- An old toothbrush or similar
Step-By-Step Guide
- Start by mixing the baking soda with the water, in equal parts, so that you create a sort of paste out of it.
- Next, use the toothbrush, or a similar tool, to apply the paste to the shower drain (that is, the area that you have access to!)
- Wait for around 10 minutes or so, then scrub the shower drain with the toothbrush as thoroughly as you can. Make sure to loosen up the mold that you can reach.
- The next step is to boil a good amount of water, wait until it cools down a tiny bit, and then pour it down the drain. Make sure to pour it down slowly! It should be around 140 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit hot in order to kill the mold, but not too hot, or else it might damage the piping system!
- Finally, pour a cup of vinegar down the drain, followed by half a cup of baking soda. These will react on their way down the drain and should kill and clean away all of the smelly mold.
You might have to repeat this process a few times before the mold is completely gone from your shower drain.
However, if you notice that the musty smell persists, you might have a bigger mold problem than you initially thought, in which case you will most likely have to contact professionals to deal with the problem before it becomes dangerous!
Reasons Why Your Shower Drain Smells Like Rotten Eggs
If your shower drain smells like rotten eggs or kind of like sewage, then there are two main reasons for it:
The Drain Is Clogged And Has Grown A Biofilm
If your shower drain is clogged up, it can grow a biofilm which is the buildup of bacteria and rotting dirt. Once this forms, it’s quite hard to get rid of, as it has a sticky substance emitted by the bacteria which sticks to the surface so that it remains put.
Pretty disgusting! And of course, it also stinks, specifically rotten eggs or similar.
A good way to know whether this is the cause or not is to run the shower for a few minutes. If the water takes ages to go down the drain and floods around the shower drain, then it’s definitely due to a clog.
Could be a build-up of hairs, debris, or just general dirt, and this is feeding the bacteria and making that biofilm grow more and more. Something you will definitely want to fix and get rid of, so we’ll tell you what to do!
You Will Need
- A drain brush cleaner
- Some boiling water
- Baking soda
- White distilled vinegar
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Start by removing the shower drain with the use of a screwdriver. Some drains don’t even require a screwdriver, as you can just turn them to unscrew, or push down and then pull. Check what type of drain you have beforehand!
- Boil a good amount of water, and then let it cool until it is around 150 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature. Then, pour this water down the drain, slowly.
- Pour a cup of vinegar, followed by half a cup of baking soda. These will react while they travel down the drain, and will kill and clear all the dirt and bacteria.
- After about two hours or so, pour some more hot water down the drain.
- Use the drain brush to remove any leftover dirt or debris that might still remain within the drain, as well as the biofilm that might still be there.
If the shower drain is still clogged after this procedure, and the smell persists, you might have to contact a professional plumber to complete the job with more appropriate tools and procedures.
Sewer Gases Are Escaping Through Your Pipes
If the water is able to drain down the shower without any problems, then instead of a clogged drain the source of the rotten egg smell is likely to be sewer gases, which are escaping upwards through your pipes.
These sewer gases are better known as hydrogen sulfide, and if they are escaping through your pipes then luckily it won’t be enough to be dangerous. However, the smell can get pretty bad, and something should be done immediately.
To solve this, you will almost certainly require the help of a professional plumber.
Fix Your Smelly Drain
So, if your shower drain smells, it will usually either be a musty smell due to mold, or a rotten egg smell due to a clogged drain or sewer gases.
Whatever the reason, the best DIY method is the use of baking soda and white distilled vinegar, but in some cases, the help of a professional will be necessary!
