bacterial drain clogger

[mikept]

I poured some roebic k67 bacterial drain cleaner in my upstairs and downstairs lavs. They were draining on the slowish side, definitly not clogged.

14 hours later my mother wakes up and uses the upstairs lav and the sink is totally clogged. she pulls a bit of hair out of the trap with a zip-it and later i plunged it but that didnt help that much. I'm wondering if the bacteria freed the hair to travel farther down the drain and clog completely ?? The downstairs lav didn change much.

I later called my mother and she suggested draino! Ha i laughed and told her this time i was doing it and doing it right. I bought a brasscraft snake-it and made a mess. Found a real hair monster deep in the wall upstairs and a small one downstairs. The sinks drain way faster than the faucet can supply and the drains swirl around. I havent seen them work close to that in my 22 years lol.

Has anyone else had a bacterial cleaner clog a drain? How long do those take to work when hair is the culprit?

[krow]

I'm not a real big fan of chemical drain openers. My old boss was the sulphuric acid king of the industry lol. Not only do they smell bad, they tend to burn into any light gauge brass tubular piping. They never work fast enough for me . I would rather physically remove any abstructions

[gear junkie]

I don't care for them. When hair is found on egyptian mummys, that says something for it's durability.

[Herk]

As I understand it, bacterial drain cleaners are primarily for grease. They have to be left to work for a number of hours so that the bacteria can begin digesting the grease.

Hair is bound to the pipe walls by things like soap scum and grease and other solids. The cleaners don't work on the hair - they work on the surrounding material.

[Redwood]

If you put something strong enough down a drain to disolve hair rest assured its not going to stop there... I'm thinking "China Syndrome"

[hj]

What happens with chemical drain cleaners, if they do anything at all, is to open just enough of an opening so they can flow out of the sink, which will then close up again in a short time. Sometimes in the process they "loosen" enough material to plug the little bit of flow that was there, and then the drain is completely clogged.

[patrick88]

bacterial drain cleaner works to keep a drain open but will not eat hair. I think your right about what you said about the hair falling into place. I would apply the cleaner now to keep it open. The hair will pass if the pipe is open and running free.

[hj]

I would apply the cleaner now to keep it open. The hair will pass if the pipe is open and running free.

Not only will the hair "pass", but so will any cleaner put into the drain, so it will not stay in any one place long enough to have any effect on potential stoppages. And once the drain is plugged so water cannot flow, then the "cleaner" also cannot flow to the stoppage point, so it cannot affect, or remove, the stoppage. Or, if it finally does, it will just open enough of a flow so it can continue down the drain and stop working on the stoppage. Save your money, don't do chemicals.

[mikept]

I would apply the cleaner now to keep it open. The hair will pass if the pipe is open and running free.

Not only will the hair "pass", but so will any cleaner put into the drain, so it will not stay in any one place long enough to have any effect on potential stoppages. And once the drain is plugged so water cannot flow, then the "cleaner" also cannot flow to the stoppage point, so it cannot affect, or remove, the stoppage. Or, if it finally does, it will just open enough of a flow so it can continue down the drain and stop working on the stoppage. Save your money, don't do chemicals.

Bacteria drain cleaner!