The occasional clogged drain is a fact of life. If you rent your living quarters, you can call upon the landlord to take care of it, but if you are a homeowner, you’ll have to figure out a way to deal with it yourself. Sometimes dealing with it means calling a plumber who can perform professional services, such as hydro jetting services Findlay OH.
Of course, there are plenty of do-it-yourself solutions out there too. Many people turn to chemical drain cleaners for help. It seems like an easy fix; just pour the cleaner down the drain and wait until the clog disappears and the pipes clear. Unfortunately, however, there are some downsides to chemical drain cleaners.
Chemical Reactions
Different drain cleaners use different chemicals. Some are acids, meaning that they have a low pH, while others are bases, meaning that the pH level is greater than seven. When acids and bases come in contact with each other, they produce chemical reactions that can sometimes be violent. They can produce high heat and toxic gases. Exposure to heat can cause injury to your skin and eyes, while toxic gases can damage your respiratory system. The effects of these types of trauma may be permanent.
For this reason, you should never mix together chemical drain cleaners. This also means that if one doesn’t work, you should not pour another on top of it in the hopes that it may be more effective because the first cleaner is probably still sitting in the pipes on top of the clog.
Ineffectiveness
Another reason not to use chemical drain cleaners is that they might not be effective at dissolving the clog. Since you already know you should not mix different cleaners together, you may have to resort to another method, such as a plumbing snake. This device works by pulling the clog up out of the drain. When you pull out the clog with the snake, the chemical may come with it and splash on your hands or clothes. These chemicals are caustic and can cause a chemical burn, even without a reaction from different cleaners.
