I'm really not a fan of pouring harsh chemicals down the drain so up until recently, I had never tried products like these.  Then my bathtub start draining extremely slowly.  I suspect this problem has been growing for quite some time and I just hadn't noticed.  I tried the usual solutions.  First the pronged plastic stick that pulls hair out of the trap.  No luck.  Then I removed the trap and cleaned it out.  Not much in there.  Then I snaked with a mechanical snake, all the way to the bigger pipe.  No luck there either.  Finally I pulled out the plunger and went to town.  Still no luck. 

I decided to run to the store and give Liquid Plumr a try before calling the plumber.  Bottom line, it works.  The first time I used it, I emptied all the water out of the trap.  I was afraid the water would dilute the solution.  I dumped the whole bottle in as directed and waited an hour to flush with hot water.  A slight improvement.  I ran back to the store to get another bottle.  This time I didn't bother removing the water from the trap, I just dumped.  After an hour I flushed with hot water.  Definite improvement!  But that still wasn't good enough.  I decided to try one more bottle.  Score!  Dumped the bottle and waited an hour and forty minutes (oops, got distracted) and flushed with hot water.  That bath tub drained like never before!  I could hear the water rushing through the pipes. 

I found this product for $3.78 at the local big box store.  Read the directions prior to purchasing/using.  They're short :)  I'm actually considering adding Liquid Plumr Foaming Pipe Snake to my yearly "to-do" list just keep things flowing freely.  If you have a bad clog you can leave this product in longer than an hour, even overnight.

It does contain lye and bleach so this is not something to play with when the children are around.

Recommended: Yes