Question: How do I get a snake down the bathtub drain? My bathtub drain is draining slowly and I can't figure out how to snake the tub drain.

How do I snake a bathtub drain?
Answer: It's not hard to snake a tub drain, but many homeowners are confounded by the overflow plate, the plate under the faucet and above the drain or the drain stopper, which may be locked in place. You can unscrew the overflow plate or the drain stopper; try unscrewing screws or unscrewing the drain stopper, twisting it in a counter clockwise direction. Once you've removed the drain plate or drain stopper, you can feed the snake into the drain.
In most cases, bathtub drains become clogged with hair and slimy gunk that attaches itself to the hair. If you've been using bath bombs or bath salts with pieces of organic material in it (like the herb lavender or glitter), that also may attach to the hair and clog the drain. You can usually clean the drain using something as simple as a plastic zip it, but if the hair and gunk has gotten compounded, you will need the snake.
Before you do any hardcore snaking, heat some water to boiling. Pour about two cups of boiling water and a generous amount of degreasing dish soap (like Dawn) into the bathtub drain and let it sit for a couple minutes. Then feed the snake into the tub drain until you hit an obstruction. Then twist the cable until the snake penetrates the obstruction. Crank the snake in reverse to pull the snake back out of the drain, removing the obstruction with the snake. You may have to do this repeatedly, but try not to jam the clog further down into the pipe and instead try to get the snake worked into the obstruction so it can hook it and pull it out.