Drain cleaners are relatively as basic as it comes, why is that advantageous over something extremely acidic when those type things are famous for melting away organic material?
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A lot of drain cleaners are concentrated Sulphuric acid, so are in fact very acidic.
That said, many are Sodium Hydroxide (lye/caustic soda) because it’s a strong base (alkali) which is very effective at two things:
– saponification (turning fats and oils into soapy substances which are soluble in water)
– dissolving keratin (the stuff your hair is made of)
That deals very handily with two of the most common causes of blockages, things which frequently end up going down the drain and are otherwise very hard to remove: hair and grease.
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