​Commercial unblocking agents are bad for the drain and the environment

Television commercials that appear over and over again over the years seem capable of brainwashing our collective. A fascinating example of this is the television commercials that have been appearing for decades for a well-known anti-limescale product to prevent broken washing machines. Except perhaps for areas where the water is extremely hard and for situations where water is frequent cooking washes of 90 degrees are rotated, many experts have doubts about the actual added value of anti-limescale agents for washing machines. Most detergents also have the necessary lime-binding ingredients added to them.

Other television advertisements that seem to have brainwashed us collectively are the regularly appearing television advertisements of a well-known car window repair company. As a result, a large part of the Netherlands now thinks that you must take immediate action if you discover an asterisk in the windshield. You are actually brainwashed from the fear and thought that asterisks usually lead to cracks. This is also evident in daily practice a lot more nuanced to lay down. I myself have driven for years with 4-5 stars in the windshield of a used car that have never become a crack.

What I want to illustrate with the above examples is that if (television) advertisements are made for something long enough, we humans are ultimately inclined to believe it. This has a stronger effect on advertisements that respond to our (latent) fears and are accompanied by easily graspable rational or scientific arguments. These ingredients together can mean that over time we seem to be collectively brainwashed. This is what some commercials do to us!

The use of commercial drain cleaners is based on brainwashing

This also applies to the advertisements that appear on television for commercial unblocking agents against drain blockage problems. As a result, the collective idea has gradually taken hold among many people that commercial unblocking agents are the alternative to relatively expensive sewer unblocking companies.

These chemical unblockers are supposedly safe for drains. However, this is by no means the case for all of them. The more aggressive chemical unblockers can particularly damage the glued connections between drain parts, resulting in possible drain leaks. Especially with repeated use of this. Then you are of course much further away from home. In addition, many chemical unblockers are relatively expensive and, above all, bad for water treatment plants and the environment.

In this case, the brainwashing focuses on your fear that you will have to call a relatively expensive sewer unblocking company accompanied by a scientifically illustrated and apparently simple solution of a liquid solution from a bottle. For commercial reasons, appealing to your fears ignores the fact that many persistent drain blockage problems can easily be solved with hot water, baking soda and vinegar.

By googling ‘clogged drain+soda+vinegar’ you will find numerous descriptions of this cheap, safe and environmentally friendly method of unclogging drains.

The best alternatives to commercial drain cleaners

I describe the step-by-step implementation that guarantees the best results below:

I. First see whether it helps to dismantle and clean the drain and the siphon (gooseneck) under the sink or sink.

II. If not, try to solve the blockage problem with a so-called plunger or rubber sink unblocker. This is a rubber suction cup on a wooden handle that allows you to create a temporary vacuum using a layer of water. In many cases, by drawing a vacuum over the drain opening 10-15 times using the rubber suction cup and a layer of water, you can remove the blockage, after which it will then be spontaneously drained through the drain pipe.

III. If unclogging with the plunger or rubber sink unblocker does not work after 20-25 pulls, it is better to use (boiling) hot water, crystal soda and cleaning vinegar as described below.

1. throw 2 liters of boiling hot water down the sink or shower drain;
2. For porcelain sinks and toilet bowls, hot tap water is sufficient. breakage risk;
3. put on household gloves before working with crystal soda and cleaning vinegar;
4. dissolve a full cup of crystal soda in an equal amount of (warm) water by stirring well;
5. throw the largely dissolved (slurry of) crystal soda down the drain;
6. only then throw (separately) a full cup of cleaning vinegar down the drain;
7. be careful, this will start to bubble due to the CO2 development, so turn your face away;
8. let it work for 15-20 minutes;
9. again throw 2 liters of boiling hot water down the drain, again turning your face away;
10. For porcelain sinks and toilet bowls, hot tap water is sufficient. breakage risk.

If this does not clear the drain blockage at first, try the whole thing again with double the amount of crystal soda and then (separately) double the amount of cleaning vinegar! Turn your face away and keep your distance!

IV. Below are two adequate public sources that I consulted for clearing a clogged drain using hot water, baking soda and vinegar.

• https://www.fab-beheer.nl/afvoer-ontstoppen-met-soda/
• https://lazeroms.be/ontstoppen-met-soda-of-azijn-een-goed-idee/

Q. Crystal soda is twice as powerful as baking soda. Just like cleaning vinegar is twice as powerful as regular vinegar. It is better to first dissolve the soda in water than to throw it loose down the drain or drain. This prevents the fizzing reaction from taking place in the drain instead of as intended when the blockage occurred.

VI. If the above methods do not ultimately solve your drain blockage problems, it is better to call a reliable drain unblocking company instead of risking your drain pipes with commercial unblocking products.

VII. Finally, always be on the lookout for scammers who target certain acute consumer emergencies (key makers, plumbers, sewer unblockers, roofers). So check the legitimacy of the sewer unblocking company via multiple digital or analog sources. For example, via the internet, the telephone directory, maps/street view, acquaintances and/or via newspaper articles. Hasty speed is rarely good in such cases!

[Fotocredits – deagreez © Adobe Stock]