Domakihub How to Clean a Shower Drain Trap (and Kill the Smell)
Remove, degrease, and disinfect the p-trap itself so holiday-rental showers stay odour-free between guests.
Reviewed by Domakihub cleaning pros · 2026-06-23 · 5 min read
A shower that smells like a sewer — or drains slower every week — usually has a dirty or dry p-trap, not just a clogged grate. The video above shows exactly what a shower trap looks like once it is pulled out and why a rinse under the tap is never enough. This guide walks you through the same five steps in detail so you can keep every shower in your home, holiday rental, or hotel running cleanly between guest stays in Greece.
Why the trap is the real culprit
The p-trap is the curved pipe section directly beneath the drain opening. Its job is to hold a small pool of water that blocks sewer gases from rising into the room. In a busy rental, that water gets replaced by a thick film of soap scum, skin cells, hair grease, and limescale — especially with Greece's hard tap water — and the seal stops working. The result is the rotten-egg or musty smell guests notice the moment they step into the bathroom.
A slow drain makes the problem worse. Standing water heats up, feeds bacterial biofilm inside the trap body, and eventually produces a partial blockage. By the time water is visibly pooling around your feet, the trap interior is usually coated in a sludge layer that a drain unblocker poured from above cannot fully reach.
When to clean the trap (not just the grate)
Most cleaning routines stop at the drain cover and the visible pipe just below it. That is enough for weekly maintenance, but every two to three guest changeovers — or any time a bad smell returns within days of a normal clean — the trap body itself needs to come out. In coastal and island rentals, where properties may sit empty for weeks before the summer season, the water in the trap can evaporate entirely, removing the gas seal altogether. A full trap clean at season-open and season-close is good practice regardless of visible blockage.
How to Clean the Shower Drain Trap in 5 Steps
- 1
Remove the drain cover and access the trap
Unscrew or prise off the drain grate with a flat-head screwdriver. Beneath it you will find either a snap-fit trap body you can lift straight out or a threaded cap you turn anticlockwise. Place a small bucket or old towel under the opening before you pull the trap free — it will still hold water and sludge. If the trap is sealed into tiled pipework with no access point, check for an inspection cap on the waste pipe under the tray or in an adjacent service panel.
- 2
Clear hair and solid debris by hand
Pull out any matted hair and solid debris with gloved fingers or a pair of needle-nose pliers. Do not flush this material down the drain — it will simply re-accumulate further along the pipe. Drop it straight into a bin bag. This step is unpleasant but necessary before any cleaning agent can reach the trap walls, because biofilm trapped under a mat of hair is invisible to chemical cleaners.
- 3
Degrease the trap body with a degreaser or baking soda paste
Fill a bucket or sink with warm water and add a generous squirt of dish soap or a purpose-made kitchen degreaser. Submerge the trap body and scrub every interior surface with a bottle brush or old toothbrush, paying attention to the U-bend where grease accumulates most. Alternatively, coat the interior with a paste of baking soda and a little dish soap, leave it for five minutes, then scrub and rinse. In hard-water areas such as Athens or Rhodes, a short soak in diluted white vinegar (one part vinegar to two parts water) after degreasing will dissolve limescale deposits that soap cannot shift.
- 4
Disinfect and eliminate odour-causing bacteria
After degreasing and rinsing, spray or pour a diluted bleach solution (one part household bleach to ten parts water) into the trap body and let it sit for at least five minutes. This kills the bacterial biofilm responsible for persistent sewer smells. If you prefer a bleach-free approach for guests with sensitivities, a spray of undiluted white vinegar followed by a sprinkle of baking soda creates a fizzing reaction that lifts residual organic matter and neutralises odour without harsh chemicals. Rinse thoroughly with cold water before refitting.
- 5
Refit the trap and test the seal
Press or screw the trap body back into place until it seats firmly — a loose trap is a potential leak point under a tiled floor, which is an expensive repair in any rental property. Replace the drain cover. Run the shower at full pressure for thirty seconds and watch for water pooling around the drain perimeter, which would indicate a failed seal. Finally, fill a cup with clean water and pour it slowly down the drain: if you can smell sewer gas rising as you do so, the trap water level is too low and you should run the tap for a further minute to refill it fully.
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FAQ
- How often should I clean the shower trap in a holiday rental?
- A full trap removal and clean every two to three guest changeovers is a reasonable baseline. At season-open and season-close, clean the trap regardless of odour, because standing water inside an unused trap evaporates in Greece's summer heat and destroys the gas seal. If guests report a smell between cleans, do not just pour unblocker down — remove the trap and scrub it directly.
- Can I use a chemical drain cleaner instead of removing the trap?
- Chemical unblockers dissolve hair proteins and shift soft blockages in the pipe above the trap, but they rarely penetrate the grease and biofilm coating the inside of the trap body itself. They also cannot restore a dry or low-water trap seal, which is the most common cause of drain smells in properties that have been empty for a few weeks. Removing and scrubbing the trap takes about fifteen minutes and gives a result no chemical product can match.
- The smell came back two days after I cleaned the drain grate. Why?
- If the smell returns quickly after cleaning only the surface grate, the trap body is almost certainly the source. Either it is coated in bacterial biofilm that the grate clean did not reach, or the water level inside the trap is too low to block sewer gases — common after a property has been empty. Remove the trap, follow the degreasing and disinfection steps above, refit it, and run water for a full minute to ensure the seal is restored.