An effective tool for cleaning pipes in the kitchen or in the bathroom is not necessary to buy in the store. There are folk recipes, time-tested, which allow you to solve the problem without unnecessary costs. The components for such solutions are found in any kitchen - this is baking soda, table salt, vinegar, etc. We will figure out how to make a tool for cleaning the sewer and how to use such solutions correctly.
Why are the pipes clogged and what to do about it?
Before discussing folk recipes for compounds for cleaning sewer pipes, you need to understand how the sewer system works. This will help to understand the causes of blockages, as well as find out how to dissolve the resulting plug. Of course, in the construction of the sewer system in different buildings there are significant differences, but the general principle is the same everywhere.
As a rule, in each house there are the following elements of the sewer system:
- Main riser. This is a vertically installed pipe of large diameter, through which drains are carried away from the apartment. It is extremely rarely clogged. It should immediately be said that if the riser is clogged, folk remedies can not do.
- Sun beds. These are horizontally located pipes connecting the sink in the kitchen, bathtub, toilet bowl and other plumbing fixtures with the riser. In the beds, blockages most often occur at the joints with the riser or siphons.
To drain drains by gravity from plumbing devices, deck chairs must have a sufficient slope. If this bias is not present, clogging is inevitable. Folk recipes will help to cope with a specific problem, but will not prevent the appearance of new blockages. Therefore, if the slope of the deck chairs is insufficient, you will have to carry out major repairs.
- Siphons and connecting corrugations. These are parts of complex shapes with ribbed surfaces. They create water locks - layers of water that do not allow gases from pipes to enter the home. Siphon bends most often become a blockage site. Since the siphon is closest to the drain, the use of folk recipes for cleaning it is most effective.
With the exception of cases when large foreign objects (rags, hair bundles, etc.) get into the sewer, the main reason for blockages in a properly constructed system is the deposition of fat in pipes. If the system is not washed with a sufficient amount of hot water (with modern economies this often does not happen), fat is deposited on the walls, "cementes" large particles that have fallen into the drain, and blocks the lumen.
The chemical method is most effective in controlling blockages. It consists in the dissolution of fatty deposits with chemically active substances. After the cementing blockage deposits disappear, the pressure of the water will push large particles further down the system and the plug will be eliminated. This is how all means for cleaning pipes work: from the store "Mole" to folk recipes.
Requirements for means for dissolving blockages
Any composition for cleaning the sewer has a specific set of requirements. If the product manufactured industrially does not comply with it, it will not be allowed for sale. For a home-made solution there are no such strict restrictions, but it is advisable not to ignore them. We will use these criteria in evaluating the effectiveness of the formulations being analyzed.
Here are the requirements for the means for dissolving blockages in sewer pipes:
- Efficiency. An ideal composition should eliminate plugs anywhere in the sewer system. Real formulations rarely achieve this effectiveness, with certain limits of applicability. Expanding the scope of application requires the introduction of potent substances, which is not always possible and justified.
- Safety for health. It is advisable that the product does not burn the skin of the hands and mucous membranes. Unfortunately, this requirement directly contradicts efficiency. Therefore, when using many recipes, it is recommended to wear protective gloves.
- Safety for the materials of which the pipes are made. This criterion sounds quite tough: the composition used should not destroy cast iron and polymers from which the sewer system pipes are made.
- Availability and low price. The less common the components are and the more expensive they are, the worse the product will meet this performance criterion. It is for this indicator that homemade formulations often outperform gels, powders and solutions made in a factory way.
- Ease of use. The composition should not require long exposure or use of a complex algorithm. In addition, the ideal tool should “forgive mistakes” in use, that is, maintain effectiveness when the instructions are not strictly followed.
Having decided on the principle of action of home-made compounds for cleaning pipes and formulating criteria for assessing their effectiveness, we will move on to a discussion of ways to deal with blockages that have passed the test of time.
We wash the pipes with boiling water
The easiest way to do it yourself. All that is needed to remove the cork is hot water or boiling water.
The procedure looks like this:
- Open the tap and fill the sink (or bath) with hot water. Its temperature is about + 70 ° C. This is enough to dissolve fat. But you can prepare boiling water by boiling water in a pan or teapot.
- Close the tap. We wait until the water has completely gone into the drain hole.
- Repeat the procedure several times. It is possible to understand that the result is obtained by the rate of water leaving: when the blockage collapses, the sink will become empty freely.
The method has many disadvantages:
- First of all, its effectiveness is maximum with the recent formation of blockage. But if the cork formed a long time, having managed to thoroughly dry, boiling water will not be able to dissolve it.
- Another drawback is the high consumption of hot water (which will affect utility bills).
- The method is recommended only for metal pipes. Pipes made of plastic, as well as siphons, corrugations, gaskets from boiling water, can lose their tightness.
Before flushing the pipe with boiling water, pay attention to the nature of stagnation of water. If it goes into the drain until a certain point, and then begins to gain, the blockage is located too far from the siphon. In this case, the washing efficiency will be extremely low.
Flushing pipes with hot water is simple and removes fresh clogs well. But nevertheless, this popular method can hardly be called a means of effectively combating congestion in sewers: it is, rather, preventive.
Baking soda is an effective aid in the fight against blockages
Sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, is widely used in cooking as a baking powder. Upon contact with acids, this substance releases a lot of foam. Soda has an alkaline reaction, which allows it to fight fat and pollution quite effectively. Many housewives use it for cleaning dishes, stoves, cleaning and other operations.
In the fight against blockages, the ability of soda to saponify fats due to the reaction of alkaline hydrolysis is used. There are several ways to implement this reaction, which should be considered in more detail.
Soda and vinegar formulations
The interaction of soda with acetic acid is accompanied by the rapid release of carbon dioxide. Gas pressure drives foam into the cork, where soda destroys deeper and deeper layers. All this quite effectively destroys the blockage, which allows you to cope even with long-standing fatty deposits.
When using acetic acid, do not forget about safety. Vapors of this volatile substance can cause severe burns to the mucous membranes. Therefore, before starting work, open the window and ensure that the room is ventilated. Also find a plug in advance that can reliably block the drain hole.
The practical use of a combination of soda and vinegar is carried out in several ways:
- Half a pack of soda is poured into the pipe, and then 100 ml of vinegar is poured into the drain. The hole must be plugged immediately. Firstly, this will not allow caustic vapors to enter the room, and secondly, it will not allow the loss of gas pressure, directing it completely to the destruction of the blockage. When the reaction stops (this can be understood by the cessation of hissing, it usually takes about half an hour), the drain is washed with hot water. After 2–3 l of water passes through the pipe, the blockage will be completely destroyed and removed from the system.
- Vinegar and soda (100 ml of acid and 100 g of powder) are mixed in a glass or clay container. After the appearance of the foam, the mixture is immediately sent to the drain hole, which is then blocked by a cork. The pipe is washed after an hour and a half, this time is usually enough to dissolve body fat.
Soda can be replaced with Alka-Seltzer effervescent tablets. Enough 3-4 tablets thrown into the sink and filled with a glass of vinegar to destroy the blockage and get rid of unpleasant odors from the drain hole.
The destruction of blockages with a mixture of soda and vinegar can be recognized as an effective and inexpensive way to solve the problem. Its only drawback is the risk of burns of the mucous membranes with pairs of acetic acid. To minimize danger, follow technology and do not neglect safety precautions.
A mixture of soda and salt
Coarse salt has a good abrasive effect. It increases the effectiveness of soda in the fight against blockages in the sewer system. In practice, these substances are used as follows:
- Soda and coarse salt in a ratio of about 2: 3 (200 g of soda and 350 g of salt) are poured into the sink. Everything is poured with hot water (0.3-0.5 l). Then you need to wait 20 minutes. During this time, soda will chemically dissolve fat. To eliminate blockage, the drain is thoroughly washed with a large volume of hot water. To enhance the effect, the procedure is repeated 2-3 times or using a plunger.
- Salt and soda in equal quantities (200 g each) are poured into the drain hole of the sink and 10 ml of acetic acid are poured. Since caustic vapors appear during the reaction, the drain must be carefully plugged. After an hour, the stock is washed with hot water.
The use of salt allows you to increase the efficiency of soda and to abandon the use of vinegar. However, such a composition will cope only with small and relatively fresh traffic jams. If deposits are formed long ago, have a greater thickness or are located far from the drain hole, the effectiveness of the method is reduced.
Lemon juice: natural and safe
Lemon juice has an acidic environment. The citric acid contained in it is capable of dissolving fat deposits (acid hydrolysis of fats). In this case, lemon juice, unlike acetic acid, does not form volatile caustic vapors, which means that it is not able to damage the mucous membranes of the lungs and eyes. True, citric acid is dangerous for the skin of the hands if it has cracks, scratches, burrs, etc. In this case, it is worth working with gloves.
Juice from 4–5 lemons is squeezed into a cup, and then poured into a sink sink. To prevent the acid concentration at the site of exposure from falling, refrain from using the sink for 1–1.5 hours. Then rinse the drain with hot water. If necessary, repeat the procedure 2-3 times.
Natural lemons can be replaced with concentrated lemon juice (half a cup of concentrate is enough) or with a solution of dry citric acid (2-3 packets of powder are taken for 1 cup of water).
Using lemon juice is safer than using vinegar. However, the effectiveness of this method is slightly lower, especially considering the high cost of the components. Using dry citric acid will help increase your effectiveness. Lemon juice is also allowed to be used instead of acetic acid in baking soda formulations.
Advantages and disadvantages of home remedies
Do-it-yourself pipe cleaning solutions have many advantages over factory-made products:
- For the preparation of home-made compositions, inexpensive components are used that are always at hand. This is especially true if you have to deal with clogging away from civilization (for example, in the country).
- The cost of factory tools can exceed the cost of components for a homemade composition by an order of magnitude.
- Industrial manufactured products have high toxicity and chemical aggressiveness, which makes them dangerous during storage.
At the same time, the effectiveness of home-made compounds at best approaches the efficiency of factory facilities. Therefore, do-it-yourself solutions should be used to combat small blockages, as well as a preventative measure.
When observing the technology of use and application in their niche, homemade products show rather high efficiency, and the low cost of components often makes them the best choice for solving the problem of blockages.
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