How does baking soda clear a slow drain?
I came across this tip in one of those ads trying to sell a book or magazine. “Learn how to clean your drains with baking soda on page 324!”. I had a box of baking soda that was in the fridge and a slow drain, so I thought why not. It’s got to be a lot less toxic than drano. I poured some down after it had finished draining for three days in a row and magic. The drain works great. I’m trying to figure out why that worked. It’s not caustic or acidic, so how does it work? It’s Friday and this is social, so go wherever you want with this.
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Sodium bicarbonate. Scrubbing bubbles. But that’s just a guess. Mix it with salt, too, and REALLY watch it go to town!
I’ve worked with sodium hydroxide a great deal, since many food plants use it clean batter lines and such. Caustic sodas are base chemicals, not acids, and can be very corrosive as well. The substances that make up baking soda are amphoteric (not sure if I spelled that right), meaning that they can react to either an acid or base chemical, though it’s slightly alkaline. I brought up the latter points just to show that base chemicals can be corrosive too.
Baking soda is only mildly corrosive at best, so I highly doubt that it’s eating away at the gunk in your drain, or at least fast enough to get results that quickly. Most homemade drain cleaning recipes tell the person to mix the baking soda with certain chemicals, like vinegar once the powder has been thrown down the drain. I’m guessing that the chemical reactions causing the carbon dioxide to leave the chemical mixture (causing the foaming) is what may loosen the sludge.
I’m not sure how your idea worked by using baking soda alone for the reasons I’ve described above. Maybe there was a chemical reaction between the baking soda and the grime in your drain itself that created a loosening effect due to some sort of chemical reaction, I don’t know.
I have always mixed white vinegar with baking soda for drains. Milo loves watching.
@Milo: Aren’t cats supposed to hate the smell of vinegar?
Everybody hates the smell of vinegar.
Wow I will try this- I have really slow drains and they drain right into the street so I don’t want to put anything weird in there…
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