Today Ill discuss my short investigation with vinegar and baking soda to see if its perfect in unblocking slow-moving drains as some [YouTubers Claim](.Thetwoingredientsarereadilyavailableandwillhaveabubblingreaction.*Summary:It’sathumbsdownforthevinegarandbakingsodainuncloggingblockeddrainsandde-scalingpipes.
Arecentexperimentprovesthatthebubbling(SodiumAcetate+Water) can’t de-clog your drain or remove the clogging gunk deep down the drain.
So, I’ll stick toreliable drain cleaners. *
Vinegar + Baking Soda = Sodium Acetate + Water
When you add vinegar to Baking soda, youll create a bubbling mix. However, the bubbling is just producing Sodium Acetate + Water, which will not do a reliable deep cleaning. With the vinegar plus Baking soda, its mix will create just salt and water that will not help generate the drain clogyou might burn your resources.
So, whats the best method: Instead of using the mix of the two greening ingredients, use the baking soda like your scouring agent in cleaning bathrooms or the sinks. On the other hand, use vinegar for neutralizing any odor or like a scum busting.
Avoid Vinegar plus Baking Soda
When used separately, vinegar and baking soda are excellent home cleaning agents. For example, vinegar acts to remove odor and disinfectant, while baking soda has great scrubbing power. As noted above, even though e reaction will not get to the bottom of the drain clog, it cant clear it. I know that most DIY experts recommend the mixture but leave it at just that.
The effervescence will be lovely, and the resulting bubbles will run down the drain pipes.
I know most of you may believe the bubbles (from the white vinegar plus baking soda) will break down the clogs (hair, oils, shampoo, and grease), but all this does not get to the clogging gunk deep in the drain.
Alternatives Boiled water, Dish Soap, Salt, Drain Snake However, if you still dont fancy using the recommended drain cleaners, you can use boiled water and mix it with some dish soap (it works in the drain with oil or grease buildup, such as kitchen sinks).
Further, you can add salt to boiled water to also help in unclogging the drain.I recently covered how to unclog a shower drain full of hair,just like its covered in this guide showingwhy these alternative methods are effective.
However, youll need to remove the hair, oil, and grease clog balls by snaking the drainfor shower or bathtub clog.
Conclusion
The vinegar/ baking soda technique will not solve the grease buildups in your showers or kitchen sinks. Notably, melting away the oil and grease would require both a surfactant and heat, which would allow the oil to flow out with the water.