Posted on: January 17, 2021
The Dangers of DIY Drain Cleaners
If you’re stuck staring at a dirty pool of water accumulating in the bottom of your bathtub, shower or sink it’s tempting to pop to the shop and grab any old drain un-blocker off the shelf for a ‘quick fix’ to your drain problems. In our experience these ‘solutions’ only come with more problems, today we are going to tell you why you should not be using a store bought drain cleaner.
What is DIY Drain Cleaner?
Normally in liquid form home drain cleaners are incredibly toxic hazardous chemicals designed to clear your pipes of blockages, although they always cause more harm than good and damage your home.
Common Ingredients of Store Bought Drain Cleaners:
One of the most common ingredients in home drain cleaners, especially the cheaper brands, is Hydrochloric Acid. A highly corrosive acid that will cause a lot of damage to your pipes, and not actually target the blockage. Meaning you are causing extreme damage to your pipes and will eventually have to completely replace them, a much more expensive and time consuming job than an unblocking.
Another common drain cleaner ingredient is lye, lye reactions cause heat and break down organic matter such as hair and skin, this is how they aim to break down blockages in your pipes. However if they lye solution is not extremely thoroughly rinsed then the chemical reaction will continue to heat your pipes, if your pipes are porcelain this causes cracking in the pipes. If your pipes are PVC it has the same effect causing cracks in the pipes, and even breaking down the glue connection that holds the whole framework together.
These drain cleaners are also extremely toxic to humans, and long after you have rinsed the cleaner down the drain you will be smelling the strong harsh chemicals that damage and irritate your eyes, nose and skin. On top of all of these negatives they are also extremely toxic to your local environment, causing multitudes of unnecessary toxicity.
And after all that, you will probably still have a blocked drain. Most DIY drain cleaners can only help with very small superficial blocks, they won’t treat any kind of deeper sewage line blockage or help in any way if your blockage is due to a damaged pipe. In-fact they will only exasperate the problem, costing you much more in the long-run.
If you want to save your money and time and are struggling with a blockage in your home, contact our professional friendly team today!
