Say ‘No’ to Liquid Drain Cleaner
20 minutes into your shower and you notice you’re basically taking a bath. The water has just surpassed your ankles, gah! We’ve all experienced troublesome clogs in our bathroom or plumbing in general and almost always think we can fix it ourselves.
While a simple plunger to the drain or running a snake may clear some clogs, any sort of liquid drain cleaner should be last on your list of possible solutions. Here’s why:
First and foremost, most liquid drain cleaners are essentially a diluted acid. We’ve all seen horror movies where the villain meets his demise falling off a scaffold into a vat of acid. Pretty gory. While definitely exaggerated, there is of course some truth to it. Use of this stuff should be done with caution. Contact with your eyes or skin can lead to some pretty serious burns or scarring in extreme cases.
Beyond potential physical harm – old or plastic piping are very susceptible to corrosion as a result of running acidic chemicals down them. As common sense would dictate, if there were a clog, the liquid drain cleaner would likely meet it, and then stick around in that spot for an extended period of time. This prolonged exposure of acid to your piping is just not ideal, simply put.
What if some other type of chemical made its way into your plumbing (either naturally, accidentally or even by your own doing) and found its way to some remnants of the liquid drain cleaner? Given the right circumstances (which seriously happen way more than you would think), your pipes could literally explode.
What about use in your toilet? With the wax seal used to connect the fixture to the plumbing (keyword here being ‘wax’), any exposure to an acidic chemical can eat away at the seal, leaving you with both a clogged and now leaky toilet. Also, the porcelain of the bowl and liquid cleaner do not tend to mix well. If left for an extended period of time in the bowl, the cleaner can heat up, causing cracks.
While liquid drain cleaner may not destroy piping, toilets or wax seals with occasional use, reoccurring clogs indicate that there is a deeper root to the problem at hand. Contacting a professional, like your friends over at Resolve Trenchless Solutions, before you corrode the pipes beneath your sink away is your best bet.
And if all that was not enough to steer you away from liquid drain cleaner, think of the environment. One way or another, those chemicals your flushing down your drain will end up in the ocean your family’s vacationing in that summer.
Bottom line, leave clogs to the experts and save yourself some money in the long run by giving us a call 24/7 & toll free at 888-973-7658, or 215-441-5544 local.