http://www.care2.com/greenliving/clogged-drain.html
Washing Soda to Unclog Drains
By Annie B. Bond
No lye, you can keep your drains from clogging a kinder and gentler way.
Washing soda is an excellent choice for helping drains stay clear because while it is alkaline—a pH of 11—it isn’t as caustic and damaging as the commonly used lye-based commercial product.
Ideally, use washing soda on your drains once a week to keep them clear. Just pour 1/4 cup or so down the drain, and then flush with water.
Washing soda is found in the laundry section of the supermarket. You can use baking soda instead by pouring 1 cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by three cups of boiling water.
The boiling water will change the chemical composition of baking soda to become more alkaline like washing soda. If you already have a clog, try pouring 1 cup of washing soda (or baking soda) down the drain followed by three cups of boiling water. Repeat two or three times.
If you still have a clog, try pouring down 1 cup of vinegar. Being an acid, the vinegar will neutralize the washing soda or baking soda and there will be some foaming and gurgling, but sometimes this agitation is all that is needed in the end to dislodge the grime.
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16 comments
add your comment »for several years i lived in a victorian in alameda ca. every week i used a mixture of baking baking soda and vinegar to keep the pipes from clogs.
one day the owner asked me why my pipes never clogged. i told her what i was doing and that it was written into the contract i had signed.
apparently i was the only tenant who was doing what we all were supposed to be doing.
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I would have never thought to do that thanks.
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i can't wait to try it. Tx
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WOW AMAZING. Thanks I'll tell my honey bunny right now... Muawww. xoxox
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if you use/ plastic/metal, pot scrubbers, in washing dishes -etc. they break into small sections & combine with hair & vegatable fibers, sand/dirts, lurking in THE grease-linning pipes. Try to visualize, the monster U've made! So, the mechanical snake- then the; green chemicals-[soda/vingar= chemicals] next is to chase out the location of all monster clogs. Once ALL lines,are clear. Then use the Vingar & soda/boiling water, to keep grease moving. MAINTAIN A MO/or/WEEKLY pipe cleaning-SCHEDULE. PS:_Vingar, is one of the items U can use 2 clean with; to kill virsus/W/wipe-down!_ Yes it smells, try a mix of lemon zest/infused vingar. The smell vanishes in complete evaporation. [Soda-paste, is excellent polisher]. I wipe vehicle handles-knobs-wheel-glass with vingar, to stop spread of FLU/cold virus. Lemon juice, will burn but repair dry/cracked skin. [another chemical, used to clean & santize coffee makers] "ALL THINGS IN MODERATION" I use vingar in final clothes rinse-no softeners. It kills formone smells & urine, odors of pets. Badly soiled items should be cold washed then soaked in strong vingar. RESPECT Ur KITCHEN AS IT's Ur CHEMICAL LAB. sez_i
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what if a pipe is broken and it isn't a clog how can I tell?
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I NEVER have clogs! Each time I use a sink, I flush it with a hard stream of hot water. Every week, I use a kettle of boiling water in each drain. Bathtubs are easy to clean manually. Just pull the stopper out, and grab the clog. If you don't know how to do this, get a do-it-yourself manual. I recommend buying one. Mine has a section on drains, which shows you how to remove the apparatus and clean it. In your kitchen sink, remember to scrape the dishes well BEFORE you wash them.
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I work in a group home for mentally delayed adults and do a 4-12 shift. It never fails if the sink gets clogged, it is 1/2 hour before my shift ends. with no drain cleaner or 1 second plumber, I tried the baking soda and hot water with vinigar. It was starting to work but I ran out of vinigar. I knew that lemon had the same effect so I tried it. It foamed twice as much and shortly with the one dose of lemon the blockage cleared. I was left with a cleared, lemony fresh drain!
Next time I tried the lemon and the drain cleared alot faster than with the vinigar.
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I tried washing soda and boiling water in my kitchen sink drain. That didn't work so I poured vinegar in. More washing soda, more boiling water. I ended up with all the pipes under the sink blocked with washing soda that was hard as cement. I called Roto-Rooter, but they couldn't do anything. I ended up needing a plumber to remove all the pipes under my sink, snake the pipes from there down ,and replace the blocked pipes. I cost me $600.00! The plumber showed me the pipe where the washing soda "cement" ended and the clogged began. It was 40 years of solid black grease. The prior homeowner had apparently been pouring grease down the kitchen sink for years. (I am a vegetarian and never pour anything greasy down the sink). I usually try the green solution first, but in this case, calling Roto-Rooter first would have saved me hundreds of dollars.
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Washing soda is entirely different from both baking soda and borax (20 Mule Team is a brand of borax). You can find washing soda in the laundry detergent aisle of your supermarket under the brand name of Arm & Hammer. Or you can go to www.soapsgonebuy.com and you'll find borax, washing soda and a whole host of hard to find great laundry aids.
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