Biological drain cleaner.

[Adam Funk]

The other day in Wickes, I was looking for some caustic soda to use occasionally to prevent gunk-accretion in the traps, especially under the shower. I couldn't find any, but they had some "Biological Drain Cleaner" (ecological, friendly to septic tanks, etc.) whose ingredients are supposed to digest hair, soap, grease, etc., overnight.

I think this is the same stuff (although the bottle has changed a bit from that picture):

anyone else evaluated this or something similar?

Is caustic soda (dangerous but cheap) getting harder to find these days? Is it ecologically nasty?

[John]

> Has anyone else evaluated this or something similar?

I have never had a problem with traps - could the use of only liquid soaps be the best way of preventing problems? It certainly reduces the need to clean taps, tiles and screens.

I uses Sanex Body Wash. Wife uses all sorts of other stuff - but we never use solid bar soap as this is made from fat.

[meow2222]

> Has anyone else evaluated this or something similar?

It is one of those things most places don't stock. Maybe becuse its so non idiotproof.

NT

[<me9]

The last lot I got from Homebase, which is itself getting harder to find.

[The Medway Handyman]

Bought some in B&Q last week, loads in stock.

Nasty stuff that di-hydrogen monoxide - the Guvmint should ban it.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "John" saying something like:

Aye, nowt like a good bar of cow-soap.

[Derek Geldard]

As a chemical feedstock, yes.

From "A" level chemistry Ca. 1964.

Stearic acid (IE fatty acid from stears) = C17-H35 -COOH

Rudimentary soap is the Sodium Salt = C17-H35-COONa

So properly made "Soap" is completely water soluble.

Hardness, "scum" etc is something else.

And, IGWS, soft water.

The detergents you mention above are made from mineral oil, like By-Prox from BP.

leave it to your imagination where Iranophol comes from ...)

Or wegible oil.

PS. Organic chemists be kind to me, it was about the last chemistry I did and it's 40+ years ago ... ;-)

DG

[Clive George]

Which leads me onto a pet rant - "contains no SLS or SLES". Contains the ammonium versions of these ionic surfactants and salt - now can somebody tell me precisely how this is different to containing the sodium version and some ammonium chloride?

I did actually contact one of these companies. They got back to me saying "our chemists said they're different". At which point I decided there was little point pursuing it.

cheers, clive

[Owain]

They're doing their best trying to discourage consumption by metering and charging for it.

Owain

[Tim S]

[e-mail] coughed up some electrons that declared:

Plenty of caustic around - suggest a proper hardware store...

[The Medway Handyman]

You can still get it on the black market....

Pushers everywhere.

[Doki]

> Has anyone else evaluated this or something similar?

You can always pick it up at Wilko and home bargains.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Tim S saying something like:

In light of the loony in Exeter apparently using Sodium Hydroxide and paraffin to make his bomb, I expect caustic to be added to the list of controlled substances now.

"I went to Exeter to be a suicide bomber, but all I got was a burnt nose" - T-shirt.

[Tim S]

Grimly Curmudgeon coughed up some electrons that declared:

They going to ban ali-foil as well?

LoL.

[Steve Firth]

Probably, current thinking seems to be that the entire population of the UK is dimmer than a whelk[1] or determined to blow something up.

At point of use, no not really. It will be neutralised eventually by absorbtion of CO2 from the atmosphere and is diluted massively when it enters a septic tank so it doesn't really interfere with them so long as you keep your use to reasonable quantities.

I have a septic tank and use sodium hydroxide for a number of cleaning tasks such as drains, pans (stainless), cooker, roasting pans and baking sheets. Never had a problem with the septic tank.

OTOH I worked for a short time for a company that put caustic soda waste into the Mersey. From the point where the waste was added, down to the sea the Mersey was dead and it was entirely the fault of one factory.

The factory is now gone and that part of the river is now a trout stream. So caustic soda can be a dire environmental hazard, it's a question of scale.

[1] Drivel provides all the evidence they need.

[geoff]

In message , Tim S writes

S'OK - I have 20kg tucked away

And what will everyone do for hats then ?

[Adam Funk]

Well, I know that after it's neutralized or sufficiently diluted it's perfectly harmless (and that it can turn fats into soap). I just wondered if it caused any trouble on the way.

[Adam Funk]

Yes, so that you can't screen against the mind-control rays.

I for one welcome our new alien lizard overlords.

[Adam Funk]

Good point. I knew it could be neutralized to harmlessness, but I hadn't thought about "automatic" neutralization from CO2.

I don't have one, but I try not to break the sewer treatment plants anyway.

[Adam Funk]

Thanks. I'll check there after I've evaluated this "probiotic" stuff.