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This is preventive ... no big emergency... yet.
Thanks!
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Q&A
Can someone recommend a good drain cleaner?
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ChrisSunami
King-Lincoln District
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If it's just a slow drain you should try a bacterial drain opener --better for the environment and the plumbing, and available most places.
Posted 2 years ago # -
sugarplumclarey
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We use this method at my house. It's cheap and effective, especially if you do it preventively/regularly/a few times in a row. I promise it works! I have globby Italian hair and my house is about 80 years old and our drains stay clear!
Posted 2 years ago # -
ocefusmoodo
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Really need to know first what is the location of the clog. Kitchen, Bathroom, etc. Depending on that I think you can start getting some more specific answers that can help you out.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Canuck
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If you have access to a Wholefoods Market, they should have something natural for this. Some Wholefoods has a product called Drainbo.
Short of that, throw some baking soda down the drain and leave it overnight, then in the morning pour hot water down the drain. I find that works as a preventive method.Posted 2 years ago # -
CDS sherman
East Franklinton
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folks ive been in the construction business for years and i have never found a chemical drain opener to be very effective. my advice for scale or sludge is to mechanically have it snaked or jetted.
Posted 2 years ago # -
CDS sherman
East Franklinton
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rus wrote >>
What's blocking the drain?
For food waste from a garbage disposal or hair from shower drains, I've had good luck with sulfuric acid. Get it at lowes / home depot / pick your hardware store.dude lowes or HD does not sell sulfuric acid.......... you might be thinking of muriatic acid? even if you could get it i would not recommend pouring sulfuric acid down drain pipes constructed of pvc or abs. just my 2 cents. muriatic acid is used as a cleaning product and would not be very effective in clearing clogged drain pipes. i think sulfuric acid may exist in tri sodium phosphate which is another cleaning product but im sure im wrong on that one.
Posted 2 years ago # -
CDS sherman
East Franklinton
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Canuck wrote >>
If you have access to a Wholefoods Market, they should have something natural for this. Some Wholefoods has a product called Drainbo.
Short of that, throw some baking soda down the drain and leave it overnight, then in the morning pour hot water down the drain. I find that works as a preventive method.im a bit confused on how dumping a powder into a drain and then maybe 8 hours later pouring hot water would help. i would assume that the powder would clump in the trap over night only to be diluted by water in the morning...... vinegar might be a better catalyst than hot water? i still would not recommend this.i dont mean to sound shitty but bad advice is simply bad advice.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Lakee911
Clintonville (South)
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No one should be putting caustic chemicals down his/her drain without know what is clogging the drain and where it is. The last thing you want to do is have some chemical sitting in the drain that will be a hazard to the person who comes in clean it. If you do put something down your drain to try to clear a clog and it doesn't work, tell the person when they come to clean it!
The only time I can recommend using something like Drain-o or another sodium hydroxide based cleaner is when you're clearing soap, grease and hair. I use it in the bathroom sink about once a year.
As for using acid, most are safe on PVC and ABS, but do not use them on galvanized, copper, cast iron or other metal pipes. You might just dissolve a hole in your drain pipe. Again, though, I do not recommend that you use them.
So, I'm actually looking for someone to mechincally auger out the main drain. At times of high usage, the floor drain in the basement has backed up, otherwise things are still working just fine. I suspect that there are some minor tree roots, maybe some tampons, things like that caught down there.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Bristol Bar
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Mann Plumbing; local, family owned and GOOD!
Posted 2 years ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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CDS sherman wrote >>
folks ive been in the construction business for years and i have never found a chemical drain opener to be very effective. my advice for scale or sludge is to mechanically have it snaked or jetted.I second Sherman’s suggestion. You can get a good metal snake for about twenty bucks. It will clear drains. One issue in my house was the pipes getting clogged. It’s an pretty old house so after I snaked the drains I also used a bent coat hanger and went up at the pipe split. I guess I really needed open up the pipes that were going up every since I did that I have never had another drain issue.
Posted 2 years ago # -
CDS sherman
East Franklinton
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Lakee911 wrote >>
No one should be putting caustic chemicals down his/her drain without know what is clogging the drain and where it is. The last thing you want to do is have some chemical sitting in the drain that will be a hazard to the person who comes in clean it. If you do put something down your drain to try to clear a clog and it doesn't work, tell the person when they come to clean it!
The only time I can recommend using something like Drain-o or another sodium hydroxide based cleaner is when you're clearing soap, grease and hair. I use it in the bathroom sink about once a year.
As for using acid, most are safe on PVC and ABS, but do not use them on galvanized, copper, cast iron or other metal pipes. You might just dissolve a hole in your drain pipe. Again, though, I do not recommend that you use them.
So, I'm actually looking for someone to mechincally auger out the main drain. At times of high usage, the floor drain in the basement has backed up, otherwise things are still working just fine. I suspect that there are some minor tree roots, maybe some tampons, things like that caught down there.you said tampons.... lol
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tenzo
Chicago Lakeshore
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sugarplumclarey wrote >>
We use this method at my house. It's cheap and effective, especially if you do it preventively/regularly/a few times in a row. I promise it works! I have globby Italian hair and my house is about 80 years old and our drains stay clear!My wife's Italian also.
She looses a Barbie doll's worth of hair a day.
every other month I take a wire hook to the shower drain and pull out a poodle.Posted 2 years ago # -
AJgeo
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Sometimes mechanical augering is the only way to clear a main drain. I had a slow drain with the same symptoms. I called a plumber who recommended Ken Shaw:
He pulled two trash bags of tree roots from mine. He charged 25% of what two other companies quoted me.
Posted 2 years ago # -
rus
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CDS sherman wrote >>
rus wrote >>
What's blocking the drain?
For food waste from a garbage disposal or hair from shower drains, I've had good luck with sulfuric acid. Get it at lowes / home depot / pick your hardware store.dude lowes or HD does not sell sulfuric acid.......... you might be thinking of muriatic acid? even if you could get it i would not recommend pouring sulfuric acid down drain pipes constructed of pvc or abs. just my 2 cents. muriatic acid is used as a cleaning product and would not be very effective in clearing clogged drain pipes. i think sulfuric acid may exist in tri sodium phosphate which is another cleaning product but im sure im wrong on that one.
Just bought 32fl of "Floweasy drain opener". Ingredients are "virgin sulfuric acid". Cost me $12.07 at lowes.
Posted 2 years ago #
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