Drano includes several types of drain cleaners and a formula designed for tube and septic tank care. If you look at the label on a bottle of Drano, you will notice a warning that you should not pour the product down from the toilet drain. However, some might be tempted to pour Drano into a clogged toilet and it doesn’t clear the clog, even put you in danger. Let’s dive into this article to understand the root reason, how dangerous when using Drano for toilets, and any safe ways to unclog drainage.
How Drano Works
Drano contains sodium hydroxide or caustic soda, and other chemicals intended to transport and distribute laundry along inside the drainage system. Sodium hydroxide reacts violently when it comes in contact with water and creates intense heat. Heat burns the hair and melts fat, two major causes of drain clogs. As Drano dissolves clogs in the pipes, the water in the pipes boils. Splashing caustic lye back at the person treating the leak could cause severe burns and blindness.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Drano For Toilets
Toilet Drain Design
Toilet drains have a different design than drains for sinks, tubs, and showers, making Drano less efficient at reach clogs. Drano products will not sink the toilet drain like they will other drains, meaning the Drano will never reach the clog. If you decide to use a plunger to remove the clog later, you could potentially splash yourself with the Drano in the water, which can irritate your skin or eyes. Drano’s toilet cleaning solutions only work in toilets that have partial clogs as they cannot reach the clogs once a toilet shuts down completely.
Clog composition
Clogs in a toilet normally contain human waste and toilet paper, unless a foreign object is flushed down the toilet. Clogs in sinks, tubs, and showers are made up of hair, skin oils, soap scum, food scraps. Drano works to chew on the types of clogs found in other drains, not in toilets. Drano has toilet cleaning solutions made, which contain microorganisms that feed on human waste to remove clogs.
Top Dangers When Using Drano For Toilets
3 Dangers When Using Drano for Toilets
Explosion hazards
This is the top dangerous cause since it could become a Drano bomb. If poured into a clogged toilet, Drano could cause the toilet composition to blow into the bathroom. The chemical reaction between the sodium hydroxide in the Drano and the water in the toilet creates enough heat to melt the grease and the clogs to burn the hair. It is warned that even when using Drano on an approved problem, homeowners should cover drainage openings and protect themselves from splashing. Any boiling liquid and splashing out of the cuvette could still contain sodium hydroxide.
Toilet seal damage
A wax ring seals the connection between the base of the toilet and the opening of the sewer system. Bolts at the base of the dresser provide physical support, but not a tight seal. During installation, plumbers heat the wax seal until soft, then press the base of the toilet securely onto it. The heat given off by the Drano chemical reaction causes can melt the wax seal and create a sewage leak at the base of the toilet.
Toilet damage
Drano will not harm the toilet bowl by chemically reacting with the porcelain. Drano could create enough local heating to cause serious expansion damage in the bowl. When the porcelain heats up unevenly, hot portions of the ceramic expand, but the cold portions remain unchanged. The temperature difference creates enough stress to break the porcelain bowl. Cracks could cause the toilet to fail in use or allow the contents of toilet bowls to slowly seep onto the bathroom floor.
Conclusion
A clogged toilet is almost a fatality in life. There are different safe choices to get free toilet clogs, each with its own set of precautions and levels of effectiveness. Using plunger, chemical or plumber snake are some easy task you can try at home. Sometimes, however, those solutions do not really work for the heavy blockages, it is time to give MidCity Plumbers a call. We are professional water and drainage services providers, rated A+ by BBB promise to help you out with any drain problems.
