Why does pouring bleach down my drain keep my drain from clogging?

Question

I have long hair and my bathtub drain always is getting clogged. My dad told me to pour about 2 cups of bleach every week down the drain to keep it from clogging. It really works. Sometimes I forget to pour the bleach and it gets clogged up bad. I just pour the bleach down the drain and save a bundle in Drano & using a plumber.

Answer 1

This, and dumping boiling water down the drain are old school ways of maintaining one's drains.
I prefer the boiling water, as it is less caustic to the plumbing.

More old-school, and most practical, is to use a filter screen on your drain to capture hair before it gets into the pipe--as once clogged, and old-school doesn't work, the plumber (or dad) will have to be called.
Plumbers are expensive -- if you reside in an apartment, you, not your landlord will pay for this type of clog.

Answer 2

I'll bet your problem may likely be tree roots. As the paint would form a restriction or clog, but I can't see it changing. Whereas roots keep growing. This can be an inexpensive experiment. SOme hardware stores will carry Copper Sulfate, should be right next to the drain cleaning products. Sometimes its called "Root Away". Follow the instructions and flush it down at night and then don't use any drain all night. If you situation improves in the morning, you have tree roots. As others have suggested Roto-Rooter will clear this, but the roots will come back. You then either do maintenance treatments with Copper Sulfate, or have your pipes dug up and replaced. Or, you could cut down the offending tree(s). If you really believe this is paint, perhaps a water based stripper (semi-environmentally friendly) might be worth a shot.

Answer 3

Tina T. is right on the answer. The bleach probably doesn't affect the hair but it does cut through the gunk that sticks to the pipe insides to some degree and thus there is less stuff to catch the hair. This is also a good idea to use on your evaporator drain on your ac it will grow mold and the like and because these usually are small pipes it's a good idea to flush them with a cup or so of bleach two or three times during the cooling season.

Answer 4

I guess bleach (sodium hypochloride) works on hair the same way it weakens t-shirts that have been bleached too many times, since chlorine gas (very reactive and pretty bad stuff) is released. Although this may work, I would think a product designed specifically to clear drains (I think they use sodium hydroxide - a strong base) would do the same thing but in smaller quantity, and without possible ill-effects from the chlorine.

Answer 5

If your drain clogs with hair, bleach might break the hair down. Drano is a very alkaline (base) chemical that is designed to break up hair. Bleach is probably a more mild alkaline but by doing it regularly it might work.

Answer 6

smart dad !! it keeps the crud from stinking and bleach eats the hair and residue, i have a whirlpool in my tub some times i fill the tub dump in 1/2 a gallon of bleach and run it if it sets too long it gets a mildew build up inside the jets

Answer 7

Bleach eats clothes if you bleach em allot too

Answer 8

Personally... I can see absolutely NO unclogging effects that one could get with using bleach... I do NOT see how bleach could work in ANY way to UNCLOG

Answer 9

It's a coincidence.No liquid can unclog a drain.

Answer 10

because it eats through the clog