Chemical Drain Openers: Your Experience

[tonycarguy]

+1 on the strainers to catch hair.

I occasionally use lye salt (NaOH) in the kitchen drain to remove grease and organic build up. The drain pipes are ABS so it's not harmful. I use a small amount monthly as preventative maintenance. One $5 bottle has lasted me 2 yrs and it's barely 1/3 used. After you're done, it would be environmentally responsible to run the tap then pure a small amount of an acid such as vinegar or muriatic (HCl) to neutralize the NaOH.

 

[tom slick]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I've had good luck with one of these simple little tools. It's called a "Zip it" or something like that.

I've had 95% success with bath tub/shower and bath sink clogs using a zip it.

 

[nthach]

Chemical drain openers are worthless IMO - but good for maintenance. I've used Draino Crystals or good old bottled H2SO4 with luck. However, NEVER use sulfuric acid drain openers on anything but copper or ferrous pipe.

 

[benjamming]

nthach,

Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) isn't compatible with carbon steel. It is compatible with PVC & CPVC in the less dilute forms. Here is one source: http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/ChemComp.asp

You say that chemical drain openers are worthless but good for maintenance. So, which is it - worthless or good?

 

[GeaugaFletcher]

Zip-it works great for bathroom hair clogs.

Dry lye is the only chemical I've found to do any good in any drain.

 

[PandaBear]

a 25' snake works pretty well for me, then I usually add about 3 cups of laundry detergent dissolved in a gallon of hot boiling water down the drain, that usually dissolve the remaining stuff pretty good.

 

[greenaccord02]

I get them BADLY in the shower and in my wife's sink. She's got long very curly hair. I have a little doodad that's kinda like a small snake with a piece of the hook side of velcro stapled to the end. It works wonders. I used to have to go "fishing for sink squirrels" as I called it with a coat hanger, but this little thing pulls the whole squirrel out in one or two tries. It's wonderful.

Now, the problem I'm facing is that she flushed god knows what down the toilet and it drains slowly. So... I've tried just about every mechanical method I know of to get the restriction out of the drain to no avail. I think the clog must be pretty far down the line. Would a pellet, gel, or standard liquid solution be best suited to this problem. I cannot say with certainty what material my drain lines are made of, but I think it's metal of some kind. The house was built c.1972.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: benjamming
nthach,

Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) isn't compatible with carbon steel. It is compatible with PVC & CPVC in the less dilute forms. Here is one source: http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/ChemComp.asp

You say that chemical drain openers are worthless but good for maintenance. So, which is it - worthless or good?

Worthless for actual clog removal, but good to remove gunk buildup before it gets bad.

 

[fdcg27]

For hair clogs, which we get in the shower drain, the only real fix is to use the snake. This is a quick and effective method.
For grease clogs in the kithchen that aren't too bad, boiling water followed with a long cold-water flush works well.
The idea is to loosen the grease clog, and then wash it away in solid form, rather than to liquify it and have it congeal downstream.
For the toilet, which usually either drains just fine or doesn't drain at all, buy a closet augar.
I have never had any luck with chemicals on clogged drains.

 

[andyd]

Greenaccord 02 What ever it is in the toilet is stuck in the trap that blocks sewer gas from coming up. You are gonna have to take the toilet off its base, turn it over and physically remove the object. There is a wax seal that has to be changed. The only difficult part is tightening the base back onto the flange. Too much and you can crack the porceline. This is the bare bones of the process.

 

[greenaccord02]

Oh, I've changed my share of toilets before... I was hoping not to have to do that. Thanks for the reply.