It isn t safe for cast iron or galvanized steel pipes though so it s best not to use it if you have older plumbing.
Sulfuric acid in drain pipes.
This is because many brands will mix the acid with other chemicals such as foaming agents.
There are caustic cleaners that use lye sodium hydroxide or potash oxidizing cleaners that use bleach or peroxide and acidic cleaners that use sulfuric or muriatic acid to clean pipes.
It s been about an hour and a half since i first poured in the acid now and the pipe doesn t appear to be draining any faster.
It s widely available and costs about 10 for a 32 ounce container.
Also i m not sure if this matters but the pipes around all the fixtures are pvc but the actual drain pipe outside is cast iron.
The drain cleaners that soften pvc pipes are oxidizers caustics and acids.
Although the chemical itself is colorless the sulfuric acid based drain cleaning products that you ll find in hardware stores will vary in color.
Oxidizers have sodium hypochlorite as their active ingredient whereas caustic cleaners come with sodium hydroxide as their active ingredient.
Liquid lightning drain opener is a buffered sulfuric acid solution that cleans scale and dissolves pipe clogs.
It is safe to.
Do not use sulfuric acid with stainless steel aluminum chrome or galvanized steel pipes.
Although they all do it a bit differently each of these substances works by causing a chemical reaction that breaks down clogs.
Any help is appreciated.
Sulfuric acid is a chemical that can unclog blockages in drain pipes.
Because it is a toxic chemical sulfuric acid drain cleaner can irritate a person s eyes when it is exposed to air.
Acidic drain cleaners made of sulfuric or hydrochloric acid are powerful enough to clear heavy duty hair food grease soap scum or paper based clogs in 15 minutes or less.
It has the potential to kill the necessary bacteria in a septic system and it can cause pipes to corrode.
I have found sulfuric acid to be the best drain cleaner.
Acid cleaners have either hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid as their active ingredients.
About sulfuric acid used as a drain cleaner.
Even once a clog has been cleared sulfuric acid drain cleaner could still cause problems.
