When your bathtub stops draining as well as it should, you are going to want to figure out what is going on and what you can do to make it start working again. It can be really frustrating to want to take a nice, long, hot shower for the water to start reaching over your ankles and then up to your knees, cutting your relaxation short. There are a lot of things it could be, but the most likely culprit is a hairball down somewhere in your drain. Every person with hair on their head sheds hair and washing it can dislodge loose hairs, and even short hair can tangle up together and start a hairball that will mess with your drain. There are ways you can get rid of that hairball and get your bathtub draining right. 

Manually Clear the Drain

One way you can do it is to manually clear the drain. There are several ways that you can do that. Some are going to be easier to do than others, and they all depend on the hair clog being relatively shallow. You are going to have to remove the drain cover for all of the different methods. That should be relatively easy, generally, all you are going to need is a screwdriver so that you can unscrew the screws and lift the drain cover off. If you are lucky, the hair clog will be attached to the bottom of the drain cover and you can just pull it off. If you aren't lucky, it's time to go fishing. You may want to wear a pair of gloves for your fishing trip because the hair can be nasty when you finally get to it. 

• Pliers: One method of fishing for the hairball is to use a pair of pliers. You are going to want to use needlenose pliers because they have long, narrow ends which can make it easier for you to get into the pipes. You can put those down in the drain and see what you can find. You will probably want a flashlight so that you can see what you are doing. 
• Tool: If the pliers don't work, your next option is to use some kind of tool. There are plastic strips that you can buy that have teeth on them. You can snake that down into your drain and they can snag the hair and pull it out, with the teeth getting a good grip on the hair. 

If you are worried about how slowly your tub is draining, the first thing you should check is how much hair is down your drain. if that doesn't work, you can always call a plumbing repair service to check your drain for you.