Shaving in the sink is easier for some men because it’s convenient, but that perk comes at the price of a clogged drain or pipe. Though you might not notice this problem at first until the water in your sink begins to gargle and drain slowly, if at all. This is a serious problem as clogged drains are not easy to fix, especially if it has been building up for some time to the point where you might even have to call your plumber to check it out.

But there is good news involved in that you can enjoy a clean shave without messing up your sink or clogging up the drain. And all you have to do is follow the strategies right down here:

Avoid Filling up the Sink

If you’re one of those folks who enjoy filling up the sink halfway through with water just to rinse your shaving blade, we urge you to get rid of this habit at once as it is the fastest way your drain can clog up. It’s also very difficult to prevent your hair from going down the drain after it mixes up with water.

You can use a small bowl or a coffee mug with hot water to rinse your blade instead. And when the water gets too murky, dispose of it outside and refill your bowl or mug from the kitchen sink or the bathtub. You can also use two cups of hot water in which the first one can be used to remove most of the lather while the second one can be used to give you a clean rinse.

Clean Your Drain

Even if hair does end up in your sink pipe and you find that it’s draining slowly, you can work it out yourself without calling your plumber. To do this, you need to do is remove the stopper on your drain. You’ll first need to remove items from under your sink. Then use a flashlight to find the plunger rod coming down from the back of the faucet. After that, find the clip that the plunger rod slips through to hold another rod that connects to the sink stopper. This is the rod that directly enters the drain pipe under the sink drain, which comes before the “P” trap.

Next, find the nut on the sidewall of the drain pipe. You can also use pliers to remove the nut. Then go right back to the clip and squeeze the ends together where it will push the plunger rod out. Remove the plunger rod from the sink stopper and place it on one side. Then get out from under the cabinet, remove the sink stopper and clean it.

Avoid Rinsing Your Lather Down the Drain

Just as you’d want to avoid letting your hair wash down the drain, you should also avoid rinsing with either shaving soap and cream down as it can clog up your drain. Whenever you use shaving soap or cream, develop a habit of using a dedicated bowl of hot water to rinse your razor as it prevents both hair and lather from clogging your drain.

Pour Hot Water Down the Drain

As we talked about in the last point, hot water can be poured down the drain to prevent both hair and lather from getting your drain clogged. But you can also get into the habit of running hot water through the sink right after shaving to reduce clogging chances beforehand.

But if running hot water doesn’t give you the right results, then you might want to ask your plumber for another drain cleaning product that you can use or you may have to call a plumber to take care of this issue in one go.

Despite rumors suggesting that mixing hot water with baking soda and vinegar can make cleaning drains more effective, this is not really the case. The reason for this is because baking soda is a base and vinegar is an acid and the chemical reaction from these two produces water with just a bit of salt in the mix. This reaction will not cut through grease, which is what most clogs are made from. So it’s best to avoid using baking soda and vinegar to unclutter your drains.