My first-floor toilet is blocked, as far as I can see just after the U-bend.
My local plumbers merchant gave me a jar of sodium hydroxide, and told me this was as good as anything. The label on the container warns me to follow the instructions carefully, but unfortunately the instructions are missing. Can I safely pour some down the toilet? Do I have to ensure it will get round the U-bend?
Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.
Our site services used concentrated sulphuric acid, plus some chemical to enhance the action. Can't remember the name for sure (but "Blockbuster" comes to mind) but it sure was dangerous as the burns on one of the team demonstrated. The safety instructions will be the standard ones for caustic soda / sodium hydroxide. Bear in mind that even weak caustic soda is very dangerous to skin and eyes (full face visor recommended) and will make soap out of you in short order - and you may not feel anything until it's too late.
If it doesn't get round the u-bend, how do you expect it to work?
-- M Stewart Milton Keynes, UK
You may be better off removing the pan, taking it outside and cleaning it with a pressure washer or something similar.
Depending on the obstruction, caustic soda may not be all that effective anyway.
I had the unenviable job of clearing one for somebody not long ago and the obstruction turned out to be a number of vampire's teabags gathered in a mass. It would probably have taken caustic soda some while to dissolve those sufficiently for them to move.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
Are you sure they are not on a multi layer label? Packs of Sodium Hydroxide often have the instructions behind the label on the rear - you have to peel it off to get at them.
Only with care. You must add caustic soda to water (not water to caustic soda) because when it dissolves it generates considerable heat. If you simply pour the crystals in the pan the heat generated locally around the pile of crystals can crack the ceramic pan. You need to mix it a separate vessel or take great care to stir as you are adding the crystals.
Bear in mind that Sodium Hydroxide is really quite dangerous and that alkali burns, especially to the eyes, are far more dangerous than acid burns.
I was about to say, surely it's got to be worth a go with it first, rather than removing the pan without trying? But I suppose if it doesn't work, and stays 100% blocked, then when he does have to take the pan off, then he's left with all that caustic liquid slopping about - not fun. Does the OP have a clue what's causing the blockage?
OP - for what it's worth, the instructions on my pack of caustic soda for cleaning a drain (in pellet form) read "wear suitable gloves/eye protection add 100g to 1 litre cold water in a bucket, stir constantly til completely dissolved, carefully pour entire solution down drain. Leave for 30 mins and then use plunger."
It also points out never to add water to caustic soda, always the other way round, and notes that solution will heat up when dissolving.
In the light of what another poster mentioned (using sulphuric acid) I'd also add, for heaven's sake don't mix it with any other cleaners/unblockers (esp sulphuric acid) as the results could be nasty!!).
If you do use it, I'd certainly leave it longer than 30 mins though. Overnight probably. It would be worth removing as much water from the loo bowl as you can first, to avoid unnecessary dilution of the caustic soda.
hth David
I hace got loads on my skin, It burns and te skin tirns to soap. You most certainly will feel it before its too late. Fortunately the antidote is lots of clean fresh water.
My use o it is cabvalier, and considered dangerous by most of teh pansies on this group.
I would in fact do the folwing.
Tip half the power or crytals int the loo, and follow up with a kettle of boiling water, making sure that any splashes and hisses happen inside. Best way to enbsure that is to slap a sheet of something like polystyrene over the top of it all till the witches cauldron ceases. Wipe up any splashes on anything with copious cold water.
Then have a cup of coffee.
Then come back and flush the loo.
If it even drains sklightly this caustc will generally clear it BUT.
If teh blocakge is clelluose material (paper or tampons) then sulphuric acid may actually be a better bet.
Any household should have (tho not accessible by kids) a 5 litre container of brick aciod (hydrochloric) drain cleaner (sulhuric) and a few kg of caustic soda.
There is little ethat will survive attack by a series of chemicals like that. Bricks glass abd sand beig the exception.
I think that's a bit alarmist. Caustic heats cold water to boiling for a few seconds, but hardly a threat to a ceramic pan. The main problem with pouring it straight into water is that the crystals form a solid mass which then takes a long time to dissolve. In any case it's highly unlikely to unblock a WC, which IME usually has something solid stuck in the soil pipe. Last one I did was a combination of a large cooking apple, a pair of St.Michael underpants, and a piano castor. The mind boggles.
"stuart noble"
I must say I wondered that. The toilet does drain slowly, taking maybe 30 minutes after flushing. So I guess the sodium hydroxide should slowly get round the bend if the level in the toilet is slightly above the U-bend. I'll try it anyway (with gloves and goggles!)
Might be worth trying a length of rubber hosepipe shoved round the U bend and try to push the blockage out.
In article , Dave Baker writes
Or improvise a plunger with a wad of cloth in a bin bag. (or even use a real toilet plunger).
I have tried a plunger - seems more suited to a sink drain though, as I don't think it seals on the loo. Also tried a flexible drain cleaner.
Am just about to try the hydroxide method ...
On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 11:01:15 +0100, "stuart noble" seconds, but hardly a threat to a ceramic pan.
Someone I know tried to use it to clean an old Belfast sink. They filled the sink with cold water and poured the contents of a plastic bottle of fine caustic soda crystals into the sink and then went to find a stirrer - a few minutes later the sink was in two halves neatly sheared through the pile of caustic soda crystals.
Errr.... I think caustic soda would be the least of your worries!!
Toilet plungers have a big flat rubber sheet about 8 inches diameter
Or the household had a young child...
Late one Christmas Eve I discovered a similar blockage. Forced to improvise, I screwed the rubber backing pad for my sanding disk onto the end of a broomstick. A few vigorous pumps later, all was well.
Chris
Forgot to add that these items had all sucessfully navigated the u bend and the soil pipe, and were lodged on a bend about 3ft beyond the inspection chamber on their way to the main sewer. IME most blockages are nothing to do with the WC itself. If your on shared drains, it could be halfway down the street.
"stuart noble" something solid stuck in the soil pipe. Last one I did was a combination of
What no cuddly toy?
An acquaintance of mine recently had to cure a blocked manhole. Having opened it up, he eventually managed to withdraw a man's shirt (bit poo-ey but in otherwise good condition) and a large bath towel; that seemed to sort it out. Nobody recognized the items or had a clue how they got there.
David
Well, that was the first post. The post following (Message-ID: ):
paints quite a different picture, flushing immediately instead of "having a cup of coffee", warming the pan, flushing immediately, dah de dah. This idea seems like a complete flight of fancy, and a very dangerous one to suggest, at that.
The best thing to clear your lavatory is a thing called a "plumber", then you won't get your hands dirty (or all the skin burnt off them). If you don't fancy this, a good second line of attack is rubber plunger, or a bucket of water tipped down from a height. A drain auger ("snake"), is a good idea if that fails, and is a long flexible metal thing like a thick piece of bicycle brake cable or net curtain stretch hanger, whatever that's called, I can't remember. You push it down the U bend, and crank it around.
J.B.
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