When the water just sits stubbornly in the sink instead of gurgling away, you're probably tempted to reach for a chemical clog remover.

However, according to a 2006 Consumer Reports article, liquid, gel and foam chemical drain cleaners, while suitable for "improving minor clogs," are "only moderately effective at best" and are dangerous. The article ranks several chemical cleaners, including four types of Liquid-Plumr (not the one in our photo); it rates Liquid-Plumr from fair to very good for effectiveness, but only fair for ease in using safely.

The article found crystal cleaners, like Drano, more effective than chemicals, but even more dangerous.

It recommends using more effective and safer mechanical devices, like plungers and snakes instead.

First aid treatment — contains sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide

Sodium hypochlorite is bleach; sodium hydroxide is lye. They can burn through mild grease and hair clogs in a drain, but they can do the same to your skin and eyes.

Front

Best! on toughest clogs

Best compared to what? Other chemical drain cleaners? Dynamite? The asterisk is explained on the back of the container — "Based on full hair clogs in lab tests" — but the explanation is vague.

Professional strength clog remover

Suggests that this product works as well as chemicals used by professionals. Plumbers usually use either a mechanical cleaner, like an auger or more effective and very dangerous acid.

The Consumer Reports study, available here, found that cleaners labelled "professional" or "heavy duty" often work no better than regular-strength varieties in clearing grease and food clogs in kitchen sinks or soap, toothpaste and hair in the bathroom sink.

Back

Danger: Corrosive. This stuff really is dangerous. Consumer Reports quotes a toxicologist from the American Association of Poison Control Centers as saying that chemical drain cleaners, if swallowed, can burn the esophagus and soldier on into the windpipe and even the heart.

Follow safety precautions carefully. And don't use a plunger after pouring chemical cleaners down a drain: the chemicals can splash up onto your skin or clothing.

Ottawa Citizen