THE BEST: Drain device zips away clogs
Drain device zips away clogs

The Courier-Journal
Saturday, October 1, 2005

By Lucynda Koesters
Whose drains run fast and free

In our busy household, we take a lot of showers and baths. Members of the household include a teenager, a preteen, a preschooler, a dog and two middle-age parents.

Each member presents various hair challenges to the bathroom drains -- from the younger set with thick locks to the older set in various stages of hair loss, to the dog, who sheds in her bath.

So there is a rather large quantity of hair sliding down the drains each day. Those drains tend to back up fast, leading to slow-moving drainpipes, standing water and ugly bath rings.

Enough of these annoyances eventually led to one big headache. When the bathwater took an hour to trickle out and the tub required cleaning before the next person could enter, it was time to tackle the problem. However, not being one to give in to professional help, the man of the house decided to scout out the home-improvement store for a do-it-yourself solution.

He came home with an interesting little product called the Zip-It. It was a long, thin piece of spiked rubbery plastic. The package stated that the product would unclog the sink, shower and bathtub drains in seconds and that it was environmentally safe with no harsh chemicals.

The instructions were to simply insert the Zip-It into the drain and pull it out slowly. The idea was that the somewhat-sharp spikes would grab the offending clog of hair, which could then be pulled out slowly by the device.

After tinkering in the bathroom for a while, the man of the house, aka my husband, hollered for me to come look at his handiwork. I didn't know what to expect, but I hoped the product would put to rest his amateur plumber status.

I anxiously entered the bathroom to see what he was so excited about. When he turned toward me with the Zip-It in his hands, I screamed.

On the end of the thing was what looked like a small rat. I thought maybe it had been drowned in our bathtub and washed down the drain. It was an ugly, gray, tangled mass of furry-looking hair.

My husband smiled triumphantly at his disgusting trophy. Trying not to gag, I turned away and looked at the tub. I stared in amazement at the bathwater that was running -- yes, running -- down the drain. No backup of water, just a clean swirl and fast swish and the water was gone. Now that was worth a smile.

Now all of our drains run smooth and empty quickly. Whenever they start to back up, my husband grabs his trusty Zip-It and unclogs the drain easily. No harsh chemicals, no plumbing required.

It's fast and simple, especially if you are not afraid to see what odious gunk may have been lurking down your drain.

The Zip-It is available at Home Depot and other home-improvement centers for about $2. No professional plumber required.

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