Household drain
The one thing in a house you clean without being able to see, reach or test it — which is why almost every drain hack is really a guess.
Precautions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Wear gloves
- Wear eye protection
- Keep away from children and pets
- Consider professional help
Start here
What this is, what tends to go wrong with it, and what to do about it.
What tends to go wrong
Fats and oils, which water alone cannot lift. Removed by surfactants, by heat, by solvents, or by alkalis that convert the fat into soap.
Why it is difficult: Why oil resists water, Emulsification
- Hair· no established method
Not a stain and not really a soil — a keratin fibre that tangles, holds everything else, and defeats every wet method by floating.
In detail
A drain is unlike every other cleaning problem in three ways, and all three explain why its advice is so poor. You cannot see what you are treating. You cannot reach it, so mechanical action is unavailable and whatever you pour in acts alone. And you rarely know what is already down there — the situation in which adding a second product is least defensible. Two faults share one name. A SMELL and a BLOCKAGE have different causes and answers. Slow kitchen drainage is usually fats solidifying against the pipe wall as they cool, and extension guidance is blunt that hot water and soap do not deal with it because the fat re-forms further along. The intervention with evidence behind it is prevention: fat cooled and binned, nothing down the toilet but waste, water and paper. Where a blockage has formed, sewerage undertakers direct householders to report it or call a contractor. ONE DISTINCTION DECIDES WHERE DIRTY WATER MAY GO — the question behind bin washing, brush rinsing and emptying a bucket. A household SINK drains to the sanitary sewer and on to treatment. A STORM DRAIN outside runs untreated to a watercourse. What may go down the first must never go down the second.
Related
- Household drain is commonly affected by Grease
- Household drain is commonly affected by Hair
Hacks and claims involving this
- Bicarbonate of soda and vinegar down a drain Unresolved
- Pouring boiling water down a drain Disputed
- Rinsing paint brushes outside with a hose Does not work
- Washing soda as a general-purpose cleaner Disputed
Sources for this page
Sources
F.O.G. (Fats, Oils, and Grease) Pollution
Clemson University Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, 2019 · Credible secondary source
Relied on for: That fats, oils and grease solidify and accumulate inside pipes, and that hot water and soap do not eliminate them because they re-form and solidify further along. (states this directly)
Waterwise: Cleaning Painting Equipment After Household Use
Clemson University Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, 2020 · Credible secondary source
Relied on for: That a household sink drains to the sanitary sewer and on to treatment while a storm drain runs untreated to a watercourse, and that rinse water must therefore never be poured into a storm drain. (states this directly)
Severn Trent Water · Credible secondary source
Relied on for: That blockages are caused by wipes and sanitary products flushed down the toilet and by cooking fats and oils poured down the sink, and that householders are directed to report a blockage or contact a drainage company rather than to treat it themselves. (states this directly)
What's in drain cleaner and what happens if you drink it?
National Capital Poison Center (Poison Control) · Poison or chemical-safety authority
Relied on for: That drain cleaners are sold in chemically opposite acid and alkaline formulations, and that overpouring into a completely blocked drain is a recognised route to a corrosive splash. (states this directly)
Temperature limitations for PVC-U DWV pipe, technical note VX-TN-8C
Vinidex Pty Ltd · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the recommended maximum continuous operating temperature for PVC-U waste pipe is 60C, and that what decides whether a hotter discharge matters is its volume and duration rather than its temperature alone. (states this directly)