Cleaning a sink - two questions

[tabbypurr]

and NaOH, which acts as a safety feature and cleaner. It neutralises added acids, upto a point.

NT

[DerbyBorn]

Am I unusual? I have never had a blocked sink or toilet. I do not possess a toilet brush. In over 45 years in the same house I have only ever used genuine Domestos to deal with stains.

[Chris Green]

Surely there are all sorts of bleach which might contain all sorts of different things.

[Handsome Jack]

Good advice. It's important to remember that requests for advice about DIY are not welcome on this newsgroup. People should always look elsewhere if possible.

[Tim Watts]

That would make sense.

[Tim Watts]

IME Domestic "general cleaning" bleach I've encountered has sodium hypochlorite as the primary agent, as does (or did) Milton (for sterilising baby's bottles). As NT says, NaOH additive would make sense as a buffer against minor exposure to acids - and then you have the thickening agents and random fragrances.

I've not come across any product in this category that wasn't hypochlorite based (that's not to say there aren't any though)

It's true lots of things can be bleaching agents like H2O2.

[Tim Watts]

Depends on your plumbing :)

My bog never blocks and a drop of Domestos and the odd application of bog cleaner keeps the insides good. But I installed it with a high flush and a full 110mm pan connector.

Some others are rubbish - blocking all the time, kitchen drains that cannot cope with coffee grounds and so on. Rubbish plumbing is the main reason.

[Max Demian]

Assuming the OP actually wants to clean or unblock the *drain* rather than the sink as the description says, he's going to need something rather powerful like caustic soda (sodium hydroxide/NaOH). Provided the NaOH granules are added to some water (rather than the other way round or put directly down the drain) and then put down the drain there shouldn't be any problem with explosive boiling. The instructions on the drain cleaner will make this clear.

[tabbypurr]

FWIW several years ago there were oxygen based bleaches on the market, but they all disappeared.

Thick bleach, which isn't just bleach, contains detergent, thickener & perfume too, for some very loose definition of perfume.

NT

[Brian Gaff]

I'd be most worried about the pipe work below myself. In my view there is way too little info about this kind of thing around on manufacturers sites. Brian

[Vir Campestris]

Our kitchen one blocked soon after we moved in. I suspect the PO's chip fat. Sodium hydroxide fixed it.

It was blocked at the tail end of last week too. We have a pipe going to an external gully. The gully was overflowing. The pipe from there to the sewer is not very far underground, 30ft long, and not steeply sloping. I think it just froze.

Andy

[stuart noble]

"FWIW several years ago there were oxygen based bleaches on the market, but they all disappeared."

I think chlorine free bleaches were a little volatile for a supermarket. I remember seeing swollen containers, and I imagine some might have exploded.

[Max Demian]

Peroxide can be used to make explosives. How are the girlies going to touch up their roots? Boots only sells it on prescription now. Who would give you a prescription? Your imam?