Posted: 10/21/2009 12:06:20 PM EDT
| I have been living on my own for about 3 years, and every time my drain has gotten slow from hair buildup from shaving, toothpaste or whatever, I have always just took the drain apart and pulled out the hair with gloves on and the help of a pair of pliers. This time I thought I would give draino a try, I wasn't expecting much, because the majority of products do not do what they are advertised to do as well as they say they do. But draino worked, and I didn't have to go through the disgusting task that I usually do when I start to get a slow draining sink. Wtf did it do? Does it actually melt the hair or whatever gunk is clogging it or just loosen it up? Sounds like some pretty powerful stuff. |
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Draino is mainly just caustic lye. (A very strong base, the opposite of an acid, chemicals with an abundance of -OH ions...)
It dissolves/rots the protiens in hair and many other kinds of biological matter so the clog flows away. It also turns fats oils and greases in the clog into soap making them water solulable. |
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Draino is an alkaline cleaner that uses NaOH.
It will break down proteins, fats and oils, which are what gets deposited in the drain to clog it. They are not water-soluble and so will not simply flush away. The lye will break them down enough to flush through the drain. Additionally, lye also releases significant ammounts of heat when dissolved in water. This further helps to soften the clog and release it from the drain. |
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Quoted: Draino is an alkaline cleaner that uses NaOH. It will break down proteins, fats and oils, which are what gets deposited in the drain to clog it. They are not water-soluble and so will not simply flush away. The lye will break them down enough to flush through the drain. Additionally, lye also releases significant ammounts of heat when dissolved in water. This further helps to soften the clog and release it from the drain. In theory.... Practical application, not so much. |
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It doesn't. Don't waste your money. Take the P-Trap out, clean it, re-install. If that does not work, rent a drain snake from the hardware store. This Lye works just fine. If you're using another type of drain cleaner, good luck with that. It's also not some miracle cure. If you have three daughters and a wife that all try to put their hairbrush catchings down the sink, you're gonna get clogged no matter what you do. Does 7M3 live with too many women? 
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liquid fire. Just a safety note. Liquid Fire is actually industrial waste sulfuric acid (98% concentrated or so, but contaminated with iron and other stuff from metal working). You do NOT want to use liquide fire in any application where there's been a caustic LYE drain opener recently used. Very concentrated acids added to very concentrated base compound equals very bad day for you. |
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Mostly by saponification of greases and oils, and release of heat as it dissolves in water. It also breaks down proteins into soluble materials, and turns hard-water soap scum into soluble soaps.
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...It won't do jack on toothpaste scum which is mostly calcium carbonate. Sulfuric acid works great on that. 
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Most clogs are acidic in nature. Oils are fatty acids, sodium hydroxide turns these into soap. Soap scum is calcium salts of fatty acids, it turns these back into soap. Hair is proteins which are composed of amino acids, sodium hydroxide turns these into sodium salts. It won't do jack on toothpaste scum which is mostly calcium carbonate. |
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liquid fire. This 1 oz of ~ Liquid Fire ~ will clear a clog that an entire bottle of draino / Mr plumber does do anything to. ETA If you can access the piping of the trap ( under the sink ) a quick removal / clean up of the clog works best. I use liquid fire on the bath drains because my gf has very long hair and that's where alot of it ends up. |
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liquid fire. Just a safety note. Liquid Fire is actually industrial waste sulfuric acid (98% concentrated or so, but contaminated with iron and other stuff from metal working). You do NOT want to use liquide fire in any application where there's been a caustic LYE drain opener recently used. Very concentrated acids added to very concentrated base compound equals very bad day for you. Oh, come on. How hot can it possibly get?
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liquid fire. Just a safety note. Liquid Fire is actually industrial waste sulfuric acid (98% concentrated or so, but contaminated with iron and other stuff from metal working). You do NOT want to use liquide fire in any application where there's been a caustic LYE drain opener recently used. Very concentrated acids added to very concentrated base compound equals very bad day for you. Oh, come on. How hot can it possibly get? LOL.... The stuff in dangerous. I wont dispose of an empty bottle on my property out of fear my dog will dig in the garbage. Burn the bottles. run the water for a while to get it all out of the drain and surrounding area. |
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It doesn't. Don't waste your money. Take the P-Trap out, clean it, re-install. If that does not work, rent a drain snake from the hardware store. This Such would be the case only if your drain was clogged by something that wasn't biological matter, greases, or fats. |
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Quoted: Mostly by saponification of greases and oils, and release of heat as it dissolves in water. It also breaks down proteins into soluble materials, and turns hard-water soap scum into soluble soaps. Quoted: ...It won't do jack on toothpaste scum which is mostly calcium carbonate. Sulfuric acid works great on that. Not calcium carbonate. Calcium sulfate dissolves only slightly in water. Now hydrochloric acid? Different story. |
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every time my drain has gotten slow from hair buildup from shaving Ok, so, I'm just wondering. What the hell kind of whiskers do you have that clog up a drain? 
ETA: Or maybe I don't want to know what you're shaving in your sink.  I trim that over the toilet.. my goatee is the culprit.. this is just after trimming it, sometimes I let it get pretty long. 
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liquid fire. This 1 oz of ~ Liquid Fire ~ will clear a clog that an entire bottle of draino / Mr plumber does do anything to. ETA If you can access the piping of the trap ( under the sink ) a quick removal / clean up of the clog works best. I use liquid fire on the bath drains because my gf has very long hair and that's where alot of it ends up. Again, this is true because the particular clog is not made up of things that the caustic lye can dissolve. Where as the liquid fire is basically industrial waste acids that will just burn through shit like crazy. |
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Quoted: Another problem with liquid fire is generation of H2S, hydrogen sulfide. Stinks but will kill you FAST. I have a question that I've been meaning to ask you for a long time. Do you seriously know all this shit off the top of your head, or do you have mad google skills? |
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Another problem with liquid fire is generation of H2S, hydrogen sulfide. Stinks but will kill you FAST. I have a question that I've been meaning to ask you for a long time. Do you seriously know all this shit off the top of your head, or do you have mad google skills? I am pretty sure K_J is the real deal in terms of his science credo. |
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Mostly by saponification of greases and oils, and release of heat as it dissolves in water. It also breaks down proteins into soluble materials, and turns hard-water soap scum into soluble soaps. Quoted:
...It won't do jack on toothpaste scum which is mostly calcium carbonate. Sulfuric acid works great on that. Not calcium carbonate. Calcium sulfate dissolves only slightly in water. Now hydrochloric acid? Different story. Good point. I usually clean out small drains with one of these: 
For big ones including my main, I use a half-inch power snake that I bought from Harbor Freight. If you own a home, it's worth owning one. Mine paid for itself the first time I used it. Calling "The Man" is expensive. 
Link |
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Quoted: Quoted: Another problem with liquid fire is generation of H2S, hydrogen sulfide. Stinks but will kill you FAST. I have a question that I've been meaning to ask you for a long time. Do you seriously know all this shit off the top of your head, or do you have mad google skills? Kieth is actually a really smart dude, cant hold his liquor well................but thats a whole other story ETA: Draino has worked well on any clog I've ever had
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| Had a horrible clog in one of my sinks for the past couple of weeks. Back in the wall somewhere. took apart all the plumbing under the sink and it was fine, but when i'd run water it'd be incredibly slow to drain. Bit of Drano and half an hour and it runs like new. So.... no idea why people in this thread are saying it doesn't work. |
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liquid fire. Just a safety note. Liquid Fire is actually industrial waste sulfuric acid (98% concentrated or so, but contaminated with iron and other stuff from metal working). You do NOT want to use liquide fire in any application where there's been a caustic LYE drain opener recently used. Very concentrated acids added to very concentrated base compound equals very bad day for you. Oh, come on. How hot can it possibly get? LOL.... The stuff in dangerous. I wont dispose of an empty bottle on my property out of fear my dog will dig in the garbage. Burn the bottles. run the water for a while to get it all out of the drain and surrounding area. Rinse 3x and toss in the trash. Good enough for a lab, good enough for you. |
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So a guy posts a thread saying that he usually clears a clog by dismantling the drain and cleaning out the p-trap, but recently used Drano and it worked.
In turn, he gets a number of replies informing him Drano doesn't work, and he should dismantle the drain and clean out the p-trap. I love this place. |
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Despite what some people are saying here, it does indeed work most of the time. I've only had one or two cases where it didn't work and those turned out to be from things other than normal hair clogs. Yup. Draino didn't work too good on the tampons that my dumbass duplex neighbor flushed.  It was even better when she tried to blame me for it 
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liquid fire. Just a safety note. Liquid Fire is actually industrial waste sulfuric acid (98% concentrated or so, but contaminated with iron and other stuff from metal working). You do NOT want to use liquide fire in any application where there's been a caustic LYE drain opener recently used. Very concentrated acids added to very concentrated base compound equals very bad day for you. This.... On the other hand... If you heed the chickens advice.... please video what happens and post it here. 
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http://www.drano.com/i/prod_maxgelclog.jpg I use this and it works everytime. I used some off-brand lookalike one time and it didn't do much. Yea... I'd bet that everyone that says it doesn't work... Used the Dollar General brand!
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Good point. I usually clean out small drains with one of these: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31fd2do%2BoBL._SL500_AA280_.jpg Holy crap is that a garden hose powered buttplug? |
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Another problem with liquid fire is generation of H2S, hydrogen sulfide. Stinks but will kill you FAST. Rotten egg smell...... Only briefly. H2S quickly kills the sensory receptors. If you get a whiff so strong that you smell it super strong and then don't smell it at all, you're pretty much a goner. |