When your shower smells, is not only, unpleasant but also something indeed, to worry about. There are several reasons for a smelly drain such as mildew growth, built-up dirt and even body oils or urine that are washed down through the drain. However, the most frequent cause is that your shower drain is not correctly, vented and its p-trap is generally siphoned dry. This allows the sewer gas (methane gas) to come back up through the drain and enter into your home.
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Whatever the cause, using your shower becomes an unpleasant experience for you. You are taking your shower in an enclosed area where strong, unpleasant odors are present making your bathroom an uncomfortable and unsanitary area.
The only solution is to clean thoroughly the shower drain in such a manner that disinfects and deodorizes in the same time.
All fixtures and plumbing of a sewer system are conceived to prevent methane gas to come back through the drain. Generally, it is a simple “S” shape in the drainpipe (a trap), where a small amount of water remains and blocks the sewer gas to get into your house. When you smell a weird and unpleasant smell, coming from your shower drain, this may means that either, is no amount of water into the drainpipe trap or the vent of the drain is plugged. When you rarely use this shower, it is very possible that the water from the drain trap evaporates out and leaves a free way for the methane gas to get into your bathroom.
There are several simple solutions when it is no water in the trap
1| You should run water in the shower periodically, if you do not use this shower at least two-three times every week.
2| A better idea is to pour boiling water into your shower drain. You can add also a cup of baking soda, which is a deodorizer as well as a natural cleaner.
3| You can use also a mixture vinegar and baking soda. Pour this mixture into your shower drain. Allow at least three hours for these two ingredients to clean and deodorize your shower and then pour boiling water into your drain. This mixture of vinegar and baking soda will act as a natural disinfectant and deodorizer, and more than that, they will create together a foam that will kill any bacteria and odor.
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Sometimes it is possible that the drain vent to be plugged or blocked. Climb up on the house roof, of course if it is safe to do it, and check the vents. Make sure they are not plugged or blocked. If they appear to be OK and the smell persists then the problem is slightly more complicated. It is possible to have an excess of suction in your plumbing system. A sign could be when the water is pulled out of the toilet bowls without anybody flushing them. In this case, you need to call a professional plumber to see where the problem is.
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