Turbo Snake

I'm losing my hair. Seriously. I know it's not uncommon postpartum to lose the extra hair we held on to during pregnancy, and that's what is happening to me now, but really- someone could have a really nice wig made of what I've lost already. For nine months, I hardly shed at all, leaving my hair the thickest it's ever been- something I enjoyed wholeheartedly. But, alas, all good things come to an end, and this end is a messy one. When we wake up in the morning, Tye is wearing at least four or five long hairs on her pajamas, and I find them all over her and me the rest of the day. To make it even worse, because it's spring, both our cat and dog are shedding, too. I'd have to vacuum twice a day to keep up with it all.

At least in most of the house, vacuuming is sufficient. Our shower drain, however... no matter how hard I try to hold on to the hairs I lose as I lather and save them from the drain, somehow enough make it down to clog it regularly (payback for those lovely 9 months without a single slow drain). While Draino is exceptionally easy, I feel so guilty using it to unclog our drains that it makes my stomach upset just thinking about it. If those chemicals are strong enough to eat hairballs, what are they doing to our water system? I tried an "environmentally friendly" enzyme drain opener, but it didn't open up the pipes.

A couple weeks ago, while Tyler's family was visiting, we saw an infomercial on TV about the Turbo Snake, a little "As Seen On TV" gizmo that supposedly grabs the hair in the drain and removes it without the hassle of unscrewing drain covers.

When I laughed and said I needed one of those, Annette (Tyler's mom) said enthusiastically, "I bet Walgreens has those! Let's go get you one!" So we went and Annette picked one up for me. Next time our drain slowed, I used it- and it worked beautifully! Maybe "beautifully" isn't the right word, now that I think of it- all that nasty hair coming out of the drain was far from beautiful. But the Turbo Snake went down the drain without removing the drain cover, grabbed the hairball, and pulled it back up without any fuss. Now our drains are clear again, sans chemicals and resulting grief. I would consider the Turbo Snake a must-have for shedding new moms, right between Spanxx and outlet covers. I wonder if Babies'R'Us has added them to their shelves yet?