Back when I was in college, my roommate and I got a chewing out from the landlord.

We had a battle of the hair. Who could cause the most clogging. We tried everything to prevent hair from going down the drain, but it was not a battle easily one. The landlord had to unclog the sink and tub quite a few times. We assured him that we were not intentionally pulling out hair to stuff down the drain, but he was not happy with the constant need for drain cleaning.

After about the 5th time he knocked on the door and said, “Merry Christmas!”

Christmas wasn’t due for another 4 months, so he got a jump on it. He handed me a couple of drain strainers. They’re little mesh strainers that you just drop in the drain of your sink and they catch all of the hair. From that point on, I used one everywhere that I have lived and have never had a problem with the drain clogging, at least not from my hair.

The other benefit to using a drain strain is that you can see exactly how much hair you are losing during your wash. Whether you do your own dominican blow out, flat iron at home, or where your hair natural, it’s a good thing to witness for yourself, just how much hair you are combing out.

If you fill up the drain every time you wash, then you have to consider whether you need to detangle prior to washing, or whether your hair may be something weak and damaged. You also get a gage for what amount of hair shedding is normal for you.

You can buy a drain strain from almosst any hardware store. Just make sure it’s the right size for your sink or tub and pop it in. Even if you don’t think that you lose a lot of hair, you’d be surprised at just how much hair slips down the drain.