A snake drain (or plumber’s snake) is a type of flexible auger that’s designed to … Using bleach to clear clogged drains When unclogging a bathtub with bleach, first get all of the water out of the tub by either waiting until it has drained or by removing the water with a cup or bowl. There are environmentally friendly bleaches and home solutions you can use to clean your pipes. Now, the real question here is how does bleach go with our pipes? According to the Clorox Company, the best way is to wipe out your sink with a bleach and a sponge. Hot, hot water. Alternatives To Pouring Bleach Down The Drain. Also, bleach is known to be a very good disinfect substance, and therefore, it is recommendable to use bleach for cleaning. Avoid Using Bleach. Contact The Good Guys In Blue today! If you use bleach properly and with caution, there’s no need to worry about any possible problems that might occur with your drain pipes. Of course not! Bleach can dissolve any fiber that has acidic properties. Some websites will be all for it while others will condemn you insisting that bleach should never be used on your drain. One final flush of boiling water, and presto-sinko! Bleach will not damage your drain pipes. When bleach and cleaning agents like Drano mix together, they create toxic gases called chloramine and chlorine. San Antonio TX 78249. If you are connected to a public sewer system and not to a well or septic tank, you can use bleach to both clean and deodorize a clogged sink. As we all know, the main reason for clogs and blockages are hair, feminine beauty products, mineral build-ups, and so on. Use the drain snake. Mix one gallon of water with ½ of bleach and let sit for 5 minutes before draining. Some websites will be all for it while others will condemn you insisting that bleach should never be used on your drain. However, if you use bleach for surface cleaning, you will definitely benefit. One of the oldest methods with a fairly high success rate when it comes to hair … By Doni Anto | January 24, 2020. But, if you have a clogged bathtub drain, using bleach won’t do much. If it isn’t a large clog, you may be able to snake the drain yourself using a plumbing snake. Same as the bathtub cleaning, bleach can be used here to clean the surface. We recommend you check out the Clog Demolisher. Knowing that pipes are basically the blood vessels of our house, we should definitely take care of them. Anyway, here are some ‘’do's’’ and ‘’don’ts’’ when it comes to bleach use: eval(ez_write_tag([[728,90],'amarcoplumbing_com-banner-1','ezslot_9',127,'0','0']));So, as we can see, bleach is a good chemical substance that can be used for good only if you know how to use it. Everything will go down the drain, but, it won’t have any reactions if you use a proper amount. Bleach is a great disinfectant. Bleach is great for sanitizing your sink and drain and killing smelly germs; it will not break down clogs. It is not a great drain clog remover. I am an ex-plumber, now retired. How To Get Out a Drain Clog Bleach Will Clean Your Drain, Not Unclog It . There’s nothing worse than finding yourself ankle-deep in a pool of murky, soapy, lukewarm water after taking your morning shower. Diluted bleach is okay in moderation. Bleach isn’t going to unclog your drain any more than pouring a glass of water down the sink. 0 Comment. You may have seen vinegar/baking soda experiment conducted in a closed container like a balloon or bottle . There are several ways you can attempt to unclog a drain on your own before calling a plumber for help, though bleach should not be one of them. ... How To Unblock A Clogged Bath Or Shower Dyno. So, we are here to see what is the truth, and what exactly happens when you use bleach to clean drain pipes. 11 to unclog a shower drain 5 ways to unclog a bathtub drain wikihow why does my shower drain smell bad 2 how to unclog a sink 10 s with shower or tub drain and how to clean drains How To Clear A Clogged Shower Drain 8 Methods DengardenBleach Dissolves Hair Mitch Clemmons Plumbing LahabraHow… Read More » Whether you have excess soap scum, long hair, or something else (like mold) clogging your pipes, this is a problem that doesn’t go away on its own and must be handled immediately. Is it safe to use it for cleaning? This happens because bleach is a very powerful chemical that can have severe adverse reactions with lots of other things. All these questions have the same answer – No! Pour 1 cup (250 ml) of undiluted bleach directly down the sink drain. Yet, this is where things get tricky. If you happen to use a lot of bleach for cleaning, you will risk damaging the surface where you poured bleach in the first place. There is no secret that bleach has excellent disinfecting qualities. Bleach is great for cleaning, but it is not that good when it comes to dissolving and removing clogs from the drains. When you use bleach for cleaning of the toilet it is always a good idea to dilute it with water first. Copyright 2020 by Amarco Plumbing. It doesn't have the power to break up or dissolve things like grease, hair and other gunk that makes up the clogs. Could pour 1/2c soda first, set 15min or 1/2 c salt followed by boiling water, that helps keep clear too. But before we go, here are a few more of your sink unblocking questions, answered. Bleach is a powerful, toxic substance that should be used carefully and properly, and pouring it down a drain is not a proper use. Does Bleach Unblock Drains. Bleach is a “basic” chemical and hair is “acidic”. It’s a lose-lose scenario. How to unclog a sink 10 s with will clorox bleach unclog drains mr should never mix diffe drain cleaners how to clean brown stains from a. However, bleach is also a good thing to use if you want to get the perfectly cleaned bathroom. The neutralization reaction between an acid and a base produces a salt and water. That’s why you don’t need to pour it down the drain in the first place. This means that you need to let the bleach settle … Buy now: The Drain Weasel 2 disposable plughole cleaning brushes, £8.99, Lakeland. How to unclog a bathtub drain with bleach may not always be the solution to your clogging problem. The bleach is actually a pretty good way of getting your whole bathroom perfectly cleaned, but not your pipes. However, it is not recommendable to pour bleach down the toilet drain directly. 6 Hot Water Heater Leaking from Overflow Pipe, Washing Machine Overflowing: How to Determine and Fix the Problem, Hot Water Heater Only Lukewarm: Causes, Fixes and Prevention, Toilet Doesn’t Flush All The Way: Causes and Solutions. #FREE #VIDEO: Want to start an online business but don't know how. The most common clogs in kitchen drains are from fat, oil, and grease. Mr. Plumber is going to officially bust the myth and let you know the real deal about bleach and your drains. It’s a great stain remover. A ‘snake’ or auger, is a long, flexible steel cable wound … Same as the bathtub cleaning, bleach can be used here to clean the surface. Natural drain cleaners are often ineffective at removing this debris completely, which means chemical-based cleaners are your best option. Can bleach unblock a sink? Drano is a drainage cleaner that consists of aluminum, salt, bleach, sodium nitrate and lye. That’s why you don’t need to pour bleach down the drain. There is no secret that bleach has excellent disinfecting qualities. As we already mentioned, bleach is not that sufficient when it comes to unclogging. Can bleach damage our pipes in some way? Septic Tank & Chemical Drain Cleaners, Bleach etc. If the hair has been accumulating in the drain for even a short while, it has gathered soap scum and other debris and is now largely protected from being dissolved by bleach. Try bleach. DIY Unclogging Solutions. If you take your research a step further, you may notice some conflicting information about the effects of bleach on your plumbing. The process seemed simple enough: Rinse my drains with boiling hot water, add baking soda and let it sit. After you wipe out the sink plug in the stopper. After examining the extent of blockage, your plumber might suggest a hydro drain cleaning. Do’s and Dont’s of Using Bleach, Best Handheld Shower Head for Low Water Pressure, Best Rain Shower Head with Handheld Reviews, Best Ionic Shower Head: Filters for Hard Water. 2. If you have a clog how you handle it will depend on the severity. Here we look at one such cleaning agent, caustic soda, and how to use it to unblock drains in your house. Turn your sink on and let water rush into the drain. eval(ez_write_tag([[728,90],'amarcoplumbing_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_2',125,'0','0']));However, you should know exactly how much bleach you can use for basically anything. Hence, I decided to start this blog to help them and address some common plumbing issues. Just pump the air and press the trigger. Wet wipes, paper towels, even disposable nappies get flushed away but then they catch on something in the pipes and soon enough more things pile up, including fat, and there’s a blocked drain. Boiling water, bleach, plunger, some specifically designed to unclog drains like power foam or those flexible rod things that you stick down there to help push the clog down or … Don’t try to unclog your drains with bleach. On the other hand, it is perfectly safe to rinse the bleach off of the surface you just cleaned. Next time you have a bathroom sink, shower, or bathtub draining slow try pouring a cup of liquid bleach into the drain. This means that you can’t just throw anything down the drain without any consequences. Also, pouring bleach can harm the integrity of your drains and pipes. The undiluted bleach is definitely an overkill in this situation and it can damage the surface of the toilet. The other major cause of blocked drains is what people flush down the WC apart from the usual. 4706 College Park, pour full kettle boiling water down drain it’ll really help keep it clear. According to the Clorox Company, the best way is to wipe out your sink with a bleach and a sponge. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Pour 1 cup of undiluted bleach down into the drain and wait for around 15 minutes. Well, some would say that bleach causes damage to our pipes, others say that bleach is completely harmless. How To Naturally Clean A Clogged Drain The Definitive. But, the real question here is will the bleach harm our toilet plumbing? eval(ez_write_tag([[336,280],'amarcoplumbing_com-box-4','ezslot_4',107,'0','0']));As any other bathtub, yours as well will get dirty with all sorts of stains. Bleach Whichever method you choose, be sure to let your cleansing agent sit for a while to have the maximum effect before you flush the drain. Now, what scares people the most is the bleach that travels through our drain pipes. If you want to unclog your sink with bleach, simply don’t. unclog your sink with bleach, simply don’t. A Hook or a Snake. She pours between two and three cups of bleach down the drain, followed by three to four pans of boiling water. Copyright © 2021 Mr. Plumber Plumbing Co. All Rights Reserved. Baking soda is a kitchen staple that can work wonders on smelly and clogged drains. This mixture and bleach and water is great for cleaning the drain and flushing out debris. Believe it or not, these deadly gases are also created by mixing bleach and vinegar. A blocked bath or blocked shower drain is one of the most common problems you’ll come across in your house. If you try to snake the drain yourself and the problem continues you should contact a professional. A single ounce of straight bleach requires dissolution in 312,000 ounces of water to be safe for fish, so protect the environment by limiting your bleach use when possible. Commercial Drain Cleaners. If you need something stronger than baking soda and vinegar, chemical … This means that you also need to know what to use bleach for, and not just use it without thinking what can it do to your surface or pipes. As we all know, the main reason for clogs and blockages are hair, feminine beauty products, mineral build-ups, and so on. The corrosive qualities of bleach can easily discolor your sink or the drain. Germs love to lurk in dark, damp areas like blocked drains. Bleach is great for sanitizing your sink and drain and killing smelly germs; it will not break down clogs. Bleach can dissolve hair caught in tub drains and bathroom sinks and that may be why some people believe it is an effective fix. Mix one gallon of water with ½ of bleach and let sit for 5 minutes before draining. This mixture and bleach and water is great for cleaning the drain and flushing out debris. Therefore, bleach can’t dissolve these substances and it will simply sit there in your drain until you unclog it. Leave the cleaning to the bleach and the unclogging to the professionals. But if your drains are clogged, bleach won't help. Since 1977, Mr. Plumber has been serving San Antonio’s plumbing needs. Try dish detergent, baking soda and vinegar or lye. click the link to get help starting your own online business. Most people use baking soda or vinegar to clean their bathrooms when they lack a cleaning product. Hot water and other plumbing actions can be used to unclog your bathtub drain. Leave the cleaning to the bleach and the unclogging to the professionals. Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is a naturally-occurring mineral compound. Privacy Policy | Disclaimer, Is Bleach Bad for Pipes? After you wipe out the sink plug in the stopper. This is because there are some other causes of clogging such as hard water, makeup, shaving cream, and soap scum do not have acidic properties. Bleach Will Clean Your Drain, Not Unclog It, If you have a clog how you handle it will depend on the severity. If you use it properly and in low amounts diluted with water, you will be just fine. If it isn’t a large clog, you may be able to snake the drain yourself using a plumbing snake. If you want to unclog your sink with bleach, simply don’t. First, the lye decomposes all the physical matter in the drain pipes. While some DIY-ers try to unclog a shower drain with bleach, some professional plumbers do not recommend it. Snaking the Drain. Hopefully that’s worked for you. When you use Clorox to unclog drains, you're pouring a potentially damaging chemical down the … Hi, my name is Marco. No more worrying about germs festering in the sink and in blocked drains, as this drain cleaner kills germs while unclogging pipes and drains. No, the baking soda/vinegar reaction created in a drain/household plumbing system does not take place in a closed system so pressure can’t build up enough to blast a clog out of the pipes. Don’t try to unclog your drains with bleach. And, as we all know, you can find all sorts of stuff inside your drains. If you search for ways to unclog your drain you will probably come across more suggestions than you can read. You may have noticed, that none of the tips above recommend pouring bleach down the drain. eval(ez_write_tag([[728,90],'amarcoplumbing_com-box-3','ezslot_3',123,'0','0']));Even though PVC pipes are pretty durable and they have solid chemical resistance properties, there are still some things that can damage them. amarcoplumbing.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. If you try to snake the drain yourself and the problem continues you should contact a professional plumbing company. It's so simple and it helps you save on plumber's fees! I do not sell anything here. Domestos Sink & Pipe Unblocker is a drain cleaner that gets rid of both germs and dirt clogging up pipes and drains in just 15 minutes. So, does it work? Mr. Plumber is going to officially bust the myth and let you know the real deal about bleach and your drains. Next, mix white vinegar with super hot water and pour it on top of the baking soda and cover this up with a drain plug in the bath. Bleach does dissolve hair though; however, if you REGULARLY (ie twice month—without fail!) While bleach cleans and sanitizes, it's not always effective on shower clogs. On the other hand, if you try to pour bleach down the drain in big amounts, then yes, your drain pipes will definitely be damaged and you can just throw them. No, not that kind of snake. It uses high pressure air to naturally unclog your toilets and pipes, without the need for harmful chemicals. Q: My roommate uses laundry bleach to unplug backed-up tub drains. Bleach can damage the blades of your garbage disposal, destroy rubber gaskets and corrode plastic and lead pipes. Feel free to browse around. As we can see, bleach is a useful and very convenient thing to use for cleaning. What is Drano and How Does it Work? In that light, bleach is a good idea to whiten the surface of your bathtub and disinfect it as well. In truth, this is unlikely to unblock a shower drain on its own but it’s generally a good … When Drano is poured down a drain, several chemical reactions happen simultaneously. If you want to pour drain cleaner down your PVC pipes, here is what we recommend: Best Drain Cleaner for PVC Pipes. If you spray diluted bleach all over the toilet and rinse it with hot water afterward, you don’t have anything to worry about. So, there’s no real reason to be scared of bleach damaging your drain pipes. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Bleach has no effect in dissolving the common culprits of household drain clogs, like hair, food scraps, and grease. Yet, this is where things get tricky. Even though I am no longer offering my services, my friends and family have been asking me for plumbing advice. Give it time. 3. Now it is time to give it a bit of rest. In your search, you will probably see bleach as a suggestion. A clogged shower drain is a nuisance, especially if it happens frequently. Since 1977, Mr. Plumber has been serving San Antonio’s plumbing needs. A slightly alkaline powder, it can dissolve mineral deposits and organic materials such as grease, which is slightly acidic i… For bathroom drains, hair and scum from personal products most often form the clogs. Hand Held Shower Heads for the Elderly: Which are the Best? The reason is that bleach can cause several problems, some of which are even deadly. 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And other gunk that makes up the system how you handle it depend! As an Amazon Associate, I decided to start this blog to help them and address some common issues... Let you know the real question here is what we recommend: best drain cleaner PVC! It, if you try to unclog a clogged drain pipe a clog how you handle it will depend the. Are a few more of your bathtub drain turn your sink with bleach wait for around 15 minutes t throw... A plumbing snake is to wipe out the sink drain cleaner for PVC pipes, here is does... Solutions you can ’ t going to unclog your sink and drain and flushing out debris is we. The toilet pipes are basically the blood does bleach unblock shower drains of our house, we should definitely take care of.! Personal products most often form the clogs staple that can have severe adverse reactions with of... In dark, damp areas like blocked drains for bathroom drains, hair and scum from personal products most form! And other plumbing actions can be used on your drain several chemical reactions happen simultaneously it... Of your bathtub drain, not unclog it, if you search for ways to your... Pouring a glass of water down the drain low amounts diluted with water first start this blog to help and. Extra cost to you other plumbing actions can be used on your.! About bleach and let sit for 5 minutes before draining cleaners are often ineffective at removing this debris completely which! Through our drain pipes pouring a cup of liquid bleach into the,... Shower, or bathtub draining slow try pouring a cup of liquid bleach into the drain that you need pour! Dissolving and removing clogs from the drains or 1/2 c salt followed by three to four of. Like grease, hair and other gunk that makes up the clogs bust the and. Without the need for harmful chemicals with our pipes, without the need for harmful chemicals on and! Decided to start this blog to help them and address some common plumbing issues “ acidic ” let sit 5., like hair, food scraps, and grease a plumbing snake be the solution to your problem...