Is vinegar bad for pipes/drains?
As in a solution of about a half cup vinegar and a half cup water poured three times weekly down a sink for several months. Could it corrode the pipes or something? (The solution itself is a foot soak. I just need to know how to dispose of it.)
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I don't know about straight vinegar, but a common solution for clearing out clogged drains is to dump half a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by half a cup of vinegar and then a whole lot of boiling water. I'm not sure if the reaction with the baking soda changes the way the vinegar would affect the pipes, but if you pour some baking soda down before your foot soak, and you'll have a very clean drain! =)
I have used some vinegar and a T of bleach in toilets to help remove stains caused by hard water. 15 minutes, scrub a bit and flush. I also use boiling water occasionally to remove gunk from stoppers. No problems after 20 yrs. What does vinegar contribute to foot soak? Why not some epsom salts?
Chemistry labs have special drains to deal with acids, but they're dealing with very very strong acids. If your drains are PVC pipe, you'll never have a problem. If your plumbing is iron or galvanized pipe, it will probably not be a problem, but I'd recommend rinsing ~30 seconds of water after you pour it down your drain. (In some weird situations, the vinegar could encourage corrosion on iron pipes, but only if it was left full strength sitting on the pipes, as long as you rinse it, you'll be fine.)
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