Household Drain Cleaner

Carefully (caution exotherm) add ingredients in the order listed with good agitation. 

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Lye is used in household drain cleaners, ammonia, automatic dishwasher detergents, Clinitest tablets, oven cleaners, and bleaches. It is also used in the manufacture of soaps and cleaners and in chemical synthesis. 

Figure 1.4 Above are some common household acids and bases. The items on the left—vitamin C, aspirin, and vinegar—contain acids. The items on the right— milk of magnesia, baking soda, and drain cleaner—contain bases.

Read the labels before mixing household cleansers. Many toilet-bowl cleaners contain acidic solutions, as do some drain cleaners, rust removers, and, of course, vinegar. Never mix bleach with these products. You could sustain permanent lung damage. 

Now we must basify our solution. By doing this we will "unhook" the salt and transform the alkaloid into its "free base" form. The alkaloids will no longer be a salt, nor will they be soluble in water. This allows us to extract them with the organic solvent added in STEP 7. Ammonium hydroxide is normally used, but for our experiment we will be using NaOH found in household lye crystals (Red Devil drain cleaner) and purchased at hardware stores. Lye is very caustic and can react violently. Take the proper precautions when using lye. 

Potassium hydroxide (KOH) is commonly referred to as caustic potash or lye because of its extreme alkahnity (high pH value). It is produced in an electrolytic cell reaction (2KC1 + THfD —> Hj + CIj + 2KOH). It is used to manufacture soaps and as a caustic drain cleaner because it is strong enough to dissolve animal fats that clog household and restaurant drains. 

Cleaning products are used regularly in most households These include dishwashing detergents, denture cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, oven cleaners, drain cleaners, wood and metal cleaners and polishes, tub, tile, and shower cleaners, bleach and pool chemicals. Toxic chemicals contained in household cleaners include glycol ethers, aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, surfactants, and heavy metals J32l... 

The next step is to add a base to our solution. One often used in extraction formulas is ammonium hydroxide, a liquid. If this is unobtainable you can substitute regular household lye crystals (sold as drain cleaner) dissolved in water to a high concentration. (Lye is a dangerous chemical. Read and follow all of the instructions on the can.) This fluid is added in small increments to the aqueous solution, shaking the mixture each time, then testing it until eventually the pH reaches 9 or 10. Be patient. It usually takes many careful applications before the pH is where you want it. If you re in too much of a hurry, it is easy to make the solution far more alkaline than necessary. 

Have you ever taken an antacid for an upset stomach Have you cleaned out a clogged drain with drain cleaner Or used lime to improve the soil in a potted plant or garden Have you washed windows or scrubbed the floor with household cleaners ... 

Consider the following neutralization reaction. Hydrochloric acid, HCl, is a common household and laboratory acid. Muriatic acid is the common household name of hydrochloric acid. It is often sold in hardware stores to be used in masonry work to remove excess mortar from brick. Sodium hydroxide, NaOH, is a common household and laboratory base. The common name of sodium hydroxide is lye. It is the primary component of many drain cleaners. Figure 15.1 shows litmus tests before and after mixing these substances together. 

Household hard surface cleaners are defined in this discussion as formulations, powder or liquid, used to clean hard surfaces in the home, excluding dishes. Therefore, cleaners used on soft surfaces in the home — upholstery and carpet cleaners, fabric stain cleaners, etc. — are not discussed here. Also excluded from this discussion are household products that are used primarily as treatments rather than cleaners per se — polishes, floor waxes, tarnish removers, and drain cleaners (decloggers). Also not included are air fresheners, which are not... 

Regarding the aggressiveness of metal hydroxides, one could also mention drain cleaners as a common household aid (see E7.4) organic materials such as cloth fabrics, paper or hair dissolve when these concentrated hydroxide solutions are used. In addition, a diluted hydroxide solution has aggressive effects on clothing as soon as the water evaporates, the aggressive effect of the hydroxide sets in and holes appear in the clothing. In this context, one should always clearly differentiate between solid sodium hydroxide and its basic solution in water. 

Household cleaners are generally used on every hard surface in the home except for dishes. In this chapter, the discussion concentrates on specialty cleaners that are formulated for specific cleaning problems, whereas all-purpose cleaners and their variants are covered in Chapter 2. This means that most of this chapter will be spent discussing cleaners used in the bathroom—such as soap scum cleaners, mildew removers, and toilet bowl cleaners. Additionally, there are cleaners that are used for extremely narrow use, such as oven and drain cleaners. Disinfectant cleaners as variants of all-purpose cleaning were covered in the previous chapter, but will also be covered here with the emphasis on the disinfectant action rather than on the cleaning function. 

Bases also react with fats and oils and convert them into smaller, soluble molecules. For this reason, most household cleaning products contain basic substances. For example, lye (NaOH) is the active ingredient in numerous drain cleaners, and many liquid household cleaners contain ammonia... 

Does the quantity of household consumer products purchased at one time matter (e.g., purchasing a case of drain cleaner) ... 

Common household substances that contain acids and bases. Vinegar is a dilute solution of acetic acid. Drain cleaners contain strong bases such as sodium hydroxide. 

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is one of the most useful industrial sodium compounds. It is also known as lye or caustic soda and is one of the strongest base alkahs (high pH value) on the household market. It is used as a drain and oven cleaner, and it saponifies fats in the manufacture of soap. It must be used with care because it is also capable of producing serious skin burns. 

Most paints used in the household today are water-based products. Significant quantities of paints, primers, and brush cleaners are washed down the drain during cleanup following painting. Water-based paints contain numerous toxic chemicals. These include pigments (many with heavy metals), biocides, glycol ethers, binders, amines, acrylate, and other polymer monomers, surfactants, aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons alcohols, ketones, and esters. I36,37 ... 

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