How Does Caustic Soda Unblock Drains =link= Direct

The drain was silent. And clear.

After fifteen minutes, the hissing stopped. Marta filled the sink with hot tap water, pulled the plug, and watched the water spiral down with a clean, hungry gulp. how does caustic soda unblock drains

For weeks, that clog had been a sticky empire of congealed bacon grease, hair, and soap scum. The fatty acids in the grease were long, tangled hydrocarbon chains—too big to wash away. The drain was silent

The clog didn’t just get pushed down the pipe. It dissolved . The solid fat became liquid soap. The hair, weakened by the violent heat, crumbled into mush. Marta filled the sink with hot tap water,

She poured a cup of the tiny white beads directly into the drain. They looked harmless, like coarse salt. Then, very carefully, she measured a cup of cold water. Not hot, she reminded herself. Never hot.

But caustic soda is a base with a pH of 14. It is a master of . The hydroxide ions from the soda attacked the fat molecules like a pair of molecular scissors. They sliced the big, stubborn grease into two smaller, water-soluble parts: glycerol (a soap-soft liquid) and fatty acid salts (which are, literally, soap).