Shower Drain Clogged or Smelly: How to Clean It Properly

Identify your shower drain

Round drain in a shower tray: usually a grille that lifts or unscrews, with a removable cup or dome underneath.

Linear drain (a long channel along the floor or wall in walk-in showers): a long grille that lifts off, with a removable trap insert underneath.

Bath waste: a plug and an overflow, often with a pop-up mechanism; the trap sits below the bath and is harder to reach.

Cleaning a shower tray drain

Lift or unscrew the grille. Underneath there is usually a plastic cup or dome that lifts out — this is part of the trap.

Pull out the hair and sludge with gloved fingers or a plastic hair-removal strip (sold cheaply in shops). Clean the cup with an old toothbrush and hot water.

Put everything back exactly as it was. A trap cup left out means no water seal, and that means sewer smell.

Cleaning a linear drain

Lift the grille, then the channel insert or the trap cartridge at one end. Clean the channel with a brush — soap residue builds up along it.

Linear drains have shallow traps and dry out faster if the shower is not used. Run water regularly.

Why it smells even when it drains

Soap and hair decaying in the trap smell on their own. And a shallow or partly emptied trap lets sewer air through. Cleaning solves the first; running water daily and checking that the trap insert is correctly seated solves the second.

If it still smells, see bathroom smells like sewer.

When cleaning is not enough

If the trap is clean and water still drains slowly, the blockage is further along the pipe. In older buildings, shower waste pipes are narrow and often have little slope.

If water rises in the shower when you flush the toilet, the blockage is past the point where both pipes join — see blocked toilet and blocked showers and sinks.

Keep it clean

Use a hair catcher on top of the drain and empty it after showering. Once a week, pour a kettle-warm mix of water and washing-up liquid down the drain. Clean the trap every month or two.

Skip chemical unblockers: they are harsh on seals and rarely clear hair. See chemical drain cleaners.

Hair catchers that actually work

Flat silicone covers with small holes sit on top of the drain and are easy to clean. Dome-shaped stainless steel catchers fit inside round drains. For linear drains, a fine mesh strip along the channel works.

The best catcher is the one someone empties after every shower.

Bath pop-up wastes

Baths with a pop-up plug operated from the overflow have a mechanism that collects hair. Most pop-up plugs unscrew or lift out; clean underneath and around the mechanism.

If the bath still drains slowly, the trap under the bath is blocked — usually accessed by removing the bath panel.

Walk-in showers with no slope

Some renovated bathrooms have walk-in showers where the floor was not laid with enough fall towards the drain. Water pools and spreads, and the grout stays wet. Cleaning the drain helps only a little; the real fix is in the floor.

Standing water on tiles also increases the risk of leaks below — see leaking shower tray.

When to call

If the trap is clean and the shower still drains slowly, or water appears in the shower when you flush, the blockage is further down. Unblocking starts from 75 €.

Frequently asked questions