Turbo Snake Test: Does It Really Unclog Drains?

A stopped up sink can be drain on your patience. An "As Seen on TV" product called the Turbo Snake claims to unclog the hair. But does it work?

Plumber Tom Lambert has seen a number of them in his day so we asked him to help us test it out.

The commercial says "The Turbo Snake, the fastest, easiest way to unclog any drain in your bathroom, guaranteed.

"We've got certainly a clogged drain here, obviously the water not going down well, lots of hair in there," says Tom.

The directions say to glide the turbo snake down the drain. According to the commercial:

"Give it a twirl and the specially designed hooks grab onto the hair to remove the clog with ease."

"I feel resistance on it, so it's grabbing something, there's a little bit coming out, not much," said Tom on our first try.

Seconds later… .

"0oo, the end just popped off," said Tom.

The bristle breaking off apparently isn't the first time this has happened. We spoke with the folks at the as seen on TV shop in Greenville, and they say that at least one of these products was returned for the very same reason.

In a written response the makers of Turbo Snake told us:

"We have done several pull tests...to ensure heads are durable enough to withstand the process of removing hair from drains. We have sold many, many units, and our overall return rate is below 2%."

Fortunately there's another Turbo Snake included. It's meant for the tub, but we pulled out the stopper and used it to try to get head that fell off.

"Iit seems like it's grabbing a little better," said Tom.

He pulled out a big wad of hair and found the broken piece.

As for the drain... .

"You've got the hair but it's still a slow drain, so I'm not sure it really does what it says it's supposed to do," said Tom.

A few more tries and it seems to be draining better, still Tom is not convinced it's a good buy.

"I'd probably say, I'm a little unhappy seeing the head pop off the first one, but I think with the second one which is designed for the tub, i mean it did pull out the hair out,." said Tom.

At $14.99 testing it out won't drain your wallet, but if the head falls off, it could be more of a headache than a help.

Our tester also found the Turbo Snake is unable to clean out clogs that go past the trap since he couldn't get the head through. So if your drain has a deep clog, your best option may be to call the plumber.