What are the main kinds of drain cleaner?
Store shelves look crowded, but nearly everything falls into four groups, and they work in four different ways.
- Caustic cleaners. Lye (sodium hydroxide, also called caustic soda) in a liquid, gel or crystals. It breaks down hair and reacts with fats to form a soapy material, and it gives off heat doing so. Some sold as heavy-duty "clog removers" are in this group.
- Acid cleaners. Products built on strong acids, with sulfuric and hydrochloric acid the two Poison Control names as common ingredients. They react with the organic material in a clog, give off heat, and burn skin and eyes as readily as a caustic does.
- Foaming or gel cleaners. Many gel and foam openers pair caustic soda with bleach (sodium hypochlorite); the safety data sheets for two well known gel products list both. They are made to cling to the pipe wall instead of sinking straight down, and they are aimed at slow drains, not full stoppages. Because they contain bleach, they are the products you must never follow with vinegar or ammonia.
- Enzyme or bacterial cleaners. Biological products, such as the enzyme cleaners sold under names like Green Gobbler, that feed on organic buildup. They work much more slowly than the chemical types, taking several hours, so they suit upkeep and have no power over a pipe that is already blocked.
Which drain cleaner works for which clog?
Match the product to what is stuck, and be honest about what you do not know. You usually cannot see the clog.
Hair. This is the one chemistry handles best. Hair is protein, and a caustic cleaner breaks protein down. If you search for the best drain cleaner for hair, or what dissolves hair in a drain, a caustic product is the category that does it. In practice it works on a thin mat in a shower trap, and not on a thick rope with soap curd wrapped around it, where the liquid only reaches the surface.
Grease. Caustic reacts with fats to form soap, which is why it is sold against grease. But what the product loosens can cool and re-harden in colder pipe farther on. Enzyme products work on light grease film over time, which is why they are used for upkeep in kitchen lines, not for a sink that is already standing full.
Paper and food. A small amount of wet paper or soft food can break down on its own with time and running water. A packed mass will not.
Solid objects. A toy, a bottle cap, a chunk of wipe, a razor cap. Chemistry does nothing for these. They need to be pulled or pushed out.
Roots. Cleaners do not remove them, and a root mass is a sign of a cracked or open joint. Our page on tree roots in sewer lines explains why.
Mineral scale. Hard water leaves calcium and magnesium deposits inside the pipe. The cleaners above are sold against hair, grease and soap, not scale, so read the label before counting on one to open a scaled-over pipe.
What are the risks of using drain cleaner?
This is the part that decides whether a chemical is worth trying.
Heat and standing liquid. In a fully blocked pipe the product has nowhere to go. It sits in the trap and bowl, hot and concentrated, against whatever fitting it touches first. Metal traps, rubber gaskets, old joints and some plastic fittings can all be damaged, and a stopped drain full of caustic water is a hazard to the next person who reaches into it.
Burns and fumes. Both caustic and acid products can burn skin and eyes. Wear rubber gloves and eye protection, ventilate the room, and never lean over the drain while pouring. Splash-back from a bubbling drain is how injuries happen.
Never mix products. Pouring one cleaner after another, or combining a drain cleaner with bleach, ammonia or a toilet bowl cleaner, can release toxic gas or cause a violent reaction. If the first one did nothing, do not follow it with a second. Rinse nothing down on top of it either, because added water can make some products spatter.
Do not plunge or snake through it. Plunging a drain that holds a chemical opener throws liquid back at you, and so does running a cable through it. If a plumber will need to open that pipe later, say what is in it so they can protect eyes and skin.
Septic systems. The EPA says to avoid chemical drain openers for a clogged drain and suggests boiling water or a drain snake instead (with plastic drain pipe, hot tap water is the safer choice than a full boil), and it notes that things poured down the drain can harm the healthy bacteria in a septic tank and drainfield. If you are on septic, a pumped tank matters more than any additive; see do septic tank additives work and our page on septic pumping.
Pipe material. Heat and standing liquid are the worry, so read the label for the pipe and fixture types the product lists. Even PVC drain pipe is rated by one major maker for non-pressure use up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and a product that heats up inside a pipe full of standing liquid can approach that. Old thin-walled metal pipe and aged fittings are poorer candidates for a chemical that sits against them for hours.
Groundwater. The EPA also notes that harmful chemicals put down a drain can reach groundwater and affect drinking water supplies and the environment, one more reason to use as little as possible.
When does a drain cleaner not work?
A cleaner usually fails for a reason you can predict:
- The blockage is a solid object, or a compacted mass of wipes or paper.
- The pipe is completely stopped. Standing water dilutes the product and it pools in the trap instead of reaching the clog, so drain cleaner mostly does not work in standing water, and it leaves hazardous liquid sitting in the fixture.
- The clog is not at this fixture. If a tub drain slows when the toilet flushes, the blockage is lower in the system, and pouring a cleaner into the tub does not reach it.
- The coating is on the pipe wall for a long stretch, and a bottle of liquid does not have the volume or the contact time to clear it.
If one application did not move the water, a second rarely does. A drain that stays slow after a cleaner has had its full contact time has a clog the cleaner cannot dissolve.
Is drain cleaner an acid or a base?
Either. Poison Control lists sulfuric and hydrochloric acids as common acidic ingredients and sodium and potassium hydroxide as common alkali ingredients, so the label decides. Most bathroom and kitchen gels sold for hair and grease are alkaline (caustic), often with bleach added. Whichever it is, it is corrosive to skin and eyes.
What is the best thing to clean a shower drain with?
For hair, a barbed plastic strip or your fingers in a glove, after lifting out the strainer or stopper, removes the clog instead of dissolving part of it. A caustic gel is the chemical option for a thin hair mat in a draining shower, never for one that is standing full. The steps are on how to unclog a shower drain.
Can I pour vinegar down the drain to clean it?
Vinegar alone is fine as a mild rinse for a smelly drain, and our page on baking soda and vinegar goes through what it does. Never pour it into a drain that holds a bleach-based or caustic cleaner. Poison Control says never to mix vinegar with chlorine bleach because it creates chlorine gas, and acid meeting caustic gives off heat.
What should I try before reaching for chemicals?
Start with the quick, mechanical fixes, because they remove the clog instead of dissolving part of it.
1. Pull the stopper or strainer and clean it. Hair and slime on it are a large share of bathroom clogs.
2. Use a cup plunger on a sink or tub, with a wet rag blocking the overflow so the pressure goes down the line.
3. Open the trap under the sink and empty it into a bucket.
4. Try a plastic barbed strip for hair, or a hand auger for a deeper plug. Our directions are on how to snake a drain. For a toilet use how to unclog a toilet, and for a kitchen or bathroom sink see how to unclog a sink.
If none of those moves it, the clog is farther along than hand tools or a store bottle reach.
When should I stop and call a plumber?
Skip any more products and call if you see any of these:
- A second or third fixture is slow, or gurgles when another one runs. That points to the main line, which no bottle of cleaner reaches. Stop using water and read about a sewer line backing up.
- Sewage or dark, foul water comes up in a tub, shower or floor drain.
- A cleaner did not work and the pipe is full of it. Leave it alone, keep children and pets away, and tell whoever you call what you poured and when.
- The drain comes back slow within days or weeks of clearing. The pipe has a cause, and chemicals do not fix a cause.
- You smell chemicals or gas near the drain after using a product. Open windows, leave the room and stop using it.
The matching services are drain cleaning, drain snaking and clogged drain repair.
What does it cost to have us clear it?
Clearing a single branch line, one fixture and not a main line clog, is covered by our $59 drain cleaning special. Past that, what moves the price is which fixture is involved, whether there is a cleanout or other way in, whether the line needs a cable or jetting, and whether the trouble sits in the branch or the main. We diagnose first, then hand you a flat price in writing that you approve before anything starts. It is a flat rate and not an hourly meter, and on-site estimates are free.
Can I use two drain cleaners one after the other?
No. Combining or following one product with another, or with bleach, vinegar or ammonia, can release toxic gas or react violently. If the first did nothing, stop.
Is drain cleaner safe for septic systems?
The EPA advises avoiding chemical drain openers for a clogged drain and using boiling water or a drain snake instead. Things poured down the drain can harm the bacteria a septic tank depends on.
Will drain cleaner damage my pipes?
It can. In a blocked pipe the product sits concentrated and hot against the first fitting it reaches, and gaskets, thin metal and some joints can be harmed. Read the label for the pipe types it lists.
What should I put down a clogged drain?
Start with a plunger, a cleaned trap or stopper, or a hand snake, because those remove the clog. A chemical is a last, careful step for hair or soft buildup, never for a solid object.
Where we work
American Rooter & Drain was established in Caldwell, Idaho in 1945 and has worked the greater Treasure Valley since 1945. We snake drains in Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, Kuna, Eagle, Star, Middleton, Garden City, Emmett and the rest of the valley, plus Ontario, Nyssa and Vale in Oregon. See what we do in Boise, Nampa, Caldwell and Meridian. Call (208) 366-5771, days, nights, weekends and holidays.
