Are you wondering what kind of ingredients are in a liquid drain cleaner? Read on to find out what makes liquid drain cleaner work so well.
You’ve probably never heard of Harry Drackett, but you’ve almost certainly used his inventions. He and his Drackett Company were the minds behind such products as Windex and Drano.
Though the company was bought out by SC Johnson in 1992, and Drano has since been discontinued, the organization has still had a significant impact on the world.
Despite being discontinued, Drano was the first liquid drain cleaner to hit the market, and now there are several other products that seek to do the same.
How do liquid drain cleaners work, though? How do they get rid of clogs? Read on to find out.
Types of Liquid Cleaners
All drain cleaners utilize chemicals to dissolve substances in the drain and break down clogs. However, different drain cleaners use different combinations of chemicals to achieve this.
Even amongst liquid drain cleaners, there are many different chemicals utilized on a case-by-case basis. The three ingredients that could be in a drain cleaner are acids, caustics, and oxidizers, and they each break down clogs in different ways.
Acids
Many drain cleaners utilize acids to burn away clogs. There’s a lot of advanced chemistry that explains how things dissolve in acid, but the basic explanation is that acid is a highly reactive material that attracts a lot of other atoms to it.
To join with the acid, atoms will often split from whatever atoms they are currently attached to, thus breaking down the substance at a chemical level. For instance, if you were to break down water, you would have oxygen and hydrogen, which are both gases at room temperature.
Keep in mind that this can be a bit dangerous, and it’s best to protect yourself when using an acidic drain cleaner. Every element in a substance is a potential reactant when introduced to a chemical solution. It’s also important to mention that this reaction, as well as many others, will create heat, so you’ll want to avoid the drain for a few hours after using the drain cleaner.
One example of this is hydrochloric acid, which, when broken down, splits into hydrogen and chlorine. Chlorine can be quite dangerous, affecting the eyes and respiration of anyone it comes in contact with. The good news is that unless you’re exposed to a high concentration of it, it isn’t fatal.
This isn’t likely to be a problem, since most acidic cleaners aren’t sold in stores, and only a drain-cleaning plumber can get the higher-concentration cleaners.
Caustics
Sodium hydroxide (NaOH,) also known as caustic soda or lye, is one of the most basic substances you can find. Bases are on the opposite end of the PH scale compared to acids and work in essentially the opposite way.
While acids draw other atoms to them, causing the substances around them to break down, bases break down themselves and combine with other things around them.
You may have heard of lye being used in soap, and there’s a good reason for that. Lye reacts with fats to create soap, and when poured down a clogged drain, the lye will likely have a lot of grease and fats to react with.
This process creates a lot of heat as well, which is another reason lye works as a drain cleaner. That heat burns and melts away some of the other materials that might be blocking your drain.
As useful as lye is, the one thing it can’t melt is plastic, so don’t put anything plastic down the drain.
Plastic isn’t the only thing to be worried about in your drains. To prevent clogs, be sure to check out this list of things to never put in your drains.
Oxidizers
Oxidizers are chemicals that cause oxidation in other chemicals. Oxidation means that the material loses electrons, thus gaining a more positive charge and changing its chemical makeup.
Oxidizers are among the most common drain cleaners on the market. You probably have one in your home right now. It’s the bottle of bleach sitting next to the washing machine.
Much like previous reactions on this list, oxidation creates heat, which helps to burn away part of the clog. These reactions also change the mass of the various materials within the clog.
The changing mass of objects alters the way they fit together, which can cause some of them to come loose. Oxidizers are often the best drain cleaner in terms of safety because they don’t release as many chemicals.
They’re also heavier than water, meaning that they won’t be stopped by any water that has built up above the clog. Though oxidizers can work on many different kinds of clogs, they’re particularly good at cleaning away organic materials, so if you happen to have a hair clog somewhere, oxidizers are a great way to get rid of it.
Storage Risks
Storage can be an issue when it comes to drain cleaners because not all chemicals mix well together. The most troublesome type of cleaning solution is lye, which reacts with most types of acid.
Drain cleaners should not be stored near flammable chemicals. Most of these cleaners aren’t flammable themselves, but they can make existing fires far worse. The best advice we can offer is to keep them away from other chemicals.
How Liquid Drain Cleaner Works: A Guide
Liquid drain cleaner has been around in one form or another for a few generations. However, many of us still aren’t sure how it works.
We’ve discussed the various types of liquid drain cleaners and how they clean drains, but there’s a lot more to know about the water and HVAC systems in your home. For example, you may want to read up on finding a safe drain cleaner.
Need help cleaning your drains? The experts at Eyman Plumbing Heating & Air are here to help. Call us today at at (402) 731-2727!