Top Reasons to Avoid Household Drain Cleaning Solutions

Taking plumbing for granted is something we all find ourselves doing. We turn on a faucet and assume fresh, clear water will come out. We flush dirty water down the drain with barely a thought. It’s not until the clearing water stubbornly refuses to move, sitting in a murky pool at the bottom of a sink, bathtub, or shower that we realize how essential plumbing is to our daily routine and comfort. The situation is annoying, inconvenient, and our first instinct is to reach for a store-bought chemical cleaner. We’re here to tell you that this quick fix solution, although convenient, can easily cause more damage than good, worsening the issue and creating undesirable complications.

A collected sludge of soap, hair, grease, and bits of food are acting as a plug in the narrow pipe, and the corrosive chemicals in the bottle of drain cleaner could, and we emphasize the word ‘could,’ dissolve this solidified mess of pipe debris. Unfortunately, these corrosive chemicals are hazardous to the extreme even when the supplied instructions are followed to the letter. The bottle can spill or splash on the enamel finish of expensive kitchen or bathroom fixtures, causing damage to the shiny coating. If the caustic nature of these substances can result in such damage to enamel, fabrics and other strong materials, we have to wonder what they could do to the skin of family members.

If we’re to avoid this risk, the answer is to not resort to drain cleaning solutions, no matter how convenient and affordable they are. This raises another point; there’s no guarantee the cleaner will be effective. Purchase a name brand bottle of drain cleaner and the odds rise in favor of its effectiveness but buy a cheaper bottle that isn’t a name brand and there’s every chance it will prove to be a dud.

Avoid such unpredictable solutions, especially when dealing with chemicals that can burn lungs with fumes and damage pipes with poorly mixed chemical formulas. Choose the expert services of an experienced plumber, one who can accurately diagnose and clear a drain clog.