Any Chemical That Will Burn Through Hair + Unblocked Drain ?

[thatguy]

Hydrochloric , muriatic HCl is the worst thing you can use. quickly dissolves steel fittings. That's why it works so great removing rust stains.

Sodium Hydroxide, caustic soda, drano(classic), NaOH. is the old standard. dissolves skin and hair, turns fat into soap. That's why it feels slippery in your fingers, it's turning them into soap; wash it off quickly.

Concentrated Sulfuric is used by plumbers for bad blocks. And boy does it stink up the neighborhood. Very dangerous stuff, NEVER pour water into the acid. If for some unknown reason you are going to dilute it, acid into water.

[tutsiwarrior]

Hydrochloric , muriatic HCl is the worst thing you can use. quickly dissolves steel fittings. That's why it works so great removing rust stains.

Sodium Hydroxide, caustic soda, drano(classic), NaOH. is the old standard. dissolves skin and hair, turns fat into soap. That's why it feels slippery in your fingers, it's turning them into soap; wash it off quickly.

Concentrated Sulfuric is used by plumbers for bad blocks. And boy does it stink up the neighborhood. Very dangerous stuff, NEVER pour water into the acid. If for some unknown reason you are going to dilute it, acid into water.

once when in California a mate's brother-in-law died in an accident and then they went to clear out the garage and found a stash of sulphuric acid and then the mate sez: 'how do we get rid of this stuff?' and I sez to pour it down a street drain but to dilute it first and then I consulted an associate sitting next to me who was a chemical engineer and he said: 'the vapor released when H2SO4 is in contact with water is lethal...' and I advised my mate accordingly...

and then the chemical engineer said: 'what was that all about?' and I just said that a mate wanted to dispose of some sulphuric acid that he found in his BiL's house who had just died...and then the engineer's eyes got big and said: 'that's bomb making material...'...and he was right, as it turned out, the mate's BiL was a survivalist and later was found to have several bombs under preparation...and I knew the chap and he seemed a nice guy; we went to the shooting range with an assault rifle that he owned and then later got some fried chicken and sushi...a normal weekend day in America...

I fled to England soon after...it was 1987...

[chantsurfer]

I have plastic hair traps over all my shower drains. This keeps the hair from going down the drain and clogging them. Then you just pick up the hair and toss it in the waste bin. I bought them from one of the local stores like lotus, big c, or homepro. They are super cheap (<100thb each)

What does it look like?

[Jayman]

I have plastic hair traps over all my shower drains. This keeps the hair from going down the drain and clogging them. Then you just pick up the hair and toss it in the waste bin. I bought them from one of the local stores like lotus, big c, or homepro. They are super cheap (<100thb each)

What does it look like?

Edited June 16, 2012 by Jayman

[chuenyongman]

you can actually buy what i believe is sulphuric acid from thai plumbing supply shops. It comes in a small red and white plastic bottle.

One caveat, this stuff is nasty and needs to be used with extreme caution. It reacts with water producing heat and noxious steam.

If standing water has not been minimised it will spash up.

I am speaking from experience, long sleeves, gloves and even goggles are recommended.

it stinks to high heaven as you would expect from anything sulphuric, so clear the family out.

it works though.

drano and similar products are also available, but with limited efficacy

you can actually buy what i believe is sulphuric acid from thai plumbing supply shops. It comes in a small red and white plastic bottle.

One caveat, this stuff is nasty and needs to be used with extreme caution. It reacts with water producing heat and noxious steam.

If standing water has not been minimised it will spash up.

I am speaking from experience, long sleeves, gloves and even goggles are recommended.

it stinks to high heaven as you would expect from anything sulphuric, so clear the family out.

it works though.

drano and similar products are also available, but with limited efficacy

I think from my experience of driving acid tankers, Hydrochloric acid is the one that gives off the choking fumes. and gets rid of unwanted things. Be sure you are well ventilated when using it. Sulphuric acid is what you put into car batteries.

[Jayman]

you can actually buy what i believe is sulphuric acid from thai plumbing supply shops. It comes in a small red and white plastic bottle.

One caveat, this stuff is nasty and needs to be used with extreme caution. It reacts with water producing heat and noxious steam.

If standing water has not been minimised it will spash up.

I am speaking from experience, long sleeves, gloves and even goggles are recommended.

it stinks to high heaven as you would expect from anything sulphuric, so clear the family out.

it works though.

drano and similar products are also available, but with limited efficacy

you can actually buy what i believe is sulphuric acid from thai plumbing supply shops. It comes in a small red and white plastic bottle.

One caveat, this stuff is nasty and needs to be used with extreme caution. It reacts with water producing heat and noxious steam.

If standing water has not been minimised it will spash up.

I am speaking from experience, long sleeves, gloves and even goggles are recommended.

it stinks to high heaven as you would expect from anything sulphuric, so clear the family out.

it works though.

drano and similar products are also available, but with limited efficacy

I think from my experience of driving acid tankers, Hydrochloric acid is the one that gives off the choking fumes. and gets rid of unwanted things. Be sure you are well ventilated when using it. Sulphuric acid is what you put into car batteries.

uh ohh.. all this time I've been putting distilled water in my car battery.

[thaibeachlovers]

Stop the hair getting into the drain at source and you wont need any chemicals.

As said above, plastic hair traps or make your own using wire mesh grilles over the drains and plugholes.

The bulk of the responses above are typical western overkill to a simple problem. Try thinking outside the box...

To remove the hair causing the initial blockage, push a length of semi-rigid wire with a curved end down and through the trap and hook the obstruction back up and out.

Actually, for like 50 thb you can buy one of those drain snakes from Amorn. I have one and it's several meters long. It's like a long flexible spring that you push down the drain and rotate and it snags all the crap blocking the drain and then you yank it out.

Ah, that looks like what I need. Connected up the basin to the pipe in the wall ( after waiting over a year to do that job ) of the new bathroom, and it didn't drain. On investigation, found to be blocked by a termite nest, that must go down past the right angle bend.

Do they stock them in Big C?

Turned out I didn't need it after all.

Another reply on this thread mentioned using water pressure, so I tried that first; stuck the hose down the drain, turned it on full and blocked the outlet with my hand- blew those pesky termites out of the pipe.

Thanks to whoever suggested that.

[thaibeachlovers]

Stop the hair getting into the drain at source and you wont need any chemicals.

As said above, plastic hair traps or make your own using wire mesh grilles over the drains and plugholes.

The bulk of the responses above are typical western overkill to a simple problem. Try thinking outside the box...

To remove the hair causing the initial blockage, push a length of semi-rigid wire with a curved end down and through the trap and hook the obstruction back up and out.

Actually, for like 50 thb you can buy one of those drain snakes from Amorn. I have one and it's several meters long. It's like a long flexible spring that you push down the drain and rotate and it snags all the crap blocking the drain and then you yank it out.

Ah, that looks like what I need. Connected up the basin to the pipe in the wall ( after waiting over a year to do that job ) of the new bathroom, and it didn't drain. On investigation, found to be blocked by a termite nest, that must go down past the right angle bend.

Do they stock them in Big C?

I bought mine from Amorn on the basement floor of Tukcom in Pattaya for like 50thb. I have also seen them sold in Homeworks but they were priced at like 700thb.

Thanks for giving that info. Turns out I didn't need it after all though. With my luck, only the 700 baht version would have been available here.

[thatguy]

Good that water pressure did it.

Hydrochloric does give off choking fumes.

Sulfuric is in car batteries, you replace evaporated water with distilled so as not to add unwanted minerals from tap water.

[electau]

Caustic soda, NaOH.

Use eye protection, protective clothing and gloves.

[mozzieslapper]

What about the bacteria powder you put into septic tanks to eat and dislodge build up on a regular basis down the sink S bend?

[lovelomsak]

I unclogged my bathroom drain yesterday. Came back from Canada and water would barely flow,( 2 women showering 2 or 3 times a day while away) when I turned on the shower the water backed up in seconds and would stop flowing down the drain. I simply bought lye (sodium hydroxide) and put it in the drain. It dissolved the hair and whatever else was in the drain within 3 hours. The drain now flows like new.

Sodium hydroxide can be bought in any mom and pop grocery store easy to get and use. Just donot get on the skin it will burn.

[phoneguy702]

Don't know if these are available in Thailand yet but for less than 2$ US you can get a small plastic device that will clean out that hair snake from the U bend. A small pipe snake would be preferable but if you don't want to have to store one of those these make a very convenient alternative http://zipitclean.com/ . I just hate the idea of putting chemicals down the drain and all of the negative consequences if you do not need to.

Edited August 19, 2012 by phoneguy702

[tinfoilhat]

I have plastic hair traps over all my shower drains. This keeps the hair from going down the drain and clogging them. Then you just pick up the hair and toss it in the waste bin. I bought them from one of the local stores like lotus, big c, or homepro. They are super cheap (<100thb each)

What does it look like?

i thought those were used to protect urinal pucks

[Jayman]

I have plastic hair traps over all my shower drains. This keeps the hair from going down the drain and clogging them. Then you just pick up the hair and toss it in the waste bin. I bought them from one of the local stores like lotus, big c, or homepro. They are super cheap (<100thb each)

What does it look like?

i thought those were used to protect urinal pucks

why on earth would a urinal puck need protection? You afraid someone will steel it?

[Crossy]

Bickering and spelling Nazi posts removed.

Let's play nicely chaps, hair in the shower drain is a fact of life for those of us with long-haired dictionaries.