How to unblock a bath - the eco way

Our bath has recently been reaaaaaallllyyyyyy slow at draining out after each bath. After one final time of crouching by the bath tub, waiting for the paint to dry water to drain out, we decided enough was enough.

But how does one unblock a drain when on The Compact Challenge, no plunger and really against pouring down chemicals?

My handy OH looked up a few options online and here is what we did.


1. Pour bicarb and vinegar down the drain
The internet warned us that although this was the most green way, it was possibly the least effective. I first piled a two hand full of bicarb over the drain hole, then poured about 2 cups of vinegar over it. Cue, a lot of fizzing, IN the bath, but not very much down the drain. SIGH. so this time, I shook some bicarb, slowly poured a little water to push the bicarb down the drain, then gently poured the vinegar little by little, letting the fizzing settle down each time. We could hear the fizzing going down the drain, good sign. However, we didn't see much improvement in the draining powder of the, erm, drain.

2. Pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain
I was a bit concerned about this, as I was brought up to have the cold water running when draining pasta in the sink so that the hot water won't crack the pipe, but hey ho, it was worth a go. Dave (because I can't be trusted with anything starting with the word 'boiling') poured it slowly down the drain.

3. Poke at it
Finally, we poked an old chopstick down the drain (I did chuck the chop stick afterwards), to see if there were anything blocking the drain near the surface.

Well, I'm not sure which of the three worked, but it's WORKED! I rather suspect it was the sum of all parts. The bath now drains beautifully, and we managed it with things we had in the house.