I noticed water backing up into my sink when my dishwasher drains. Oh no, I thought. A partial blockage. I used some Liquid Plumr.
Side note, you go to the store, and there’s big jugs and small jugs and three brands and liquid and “gel” and one part and two part…I don’t know if you’ve seen that youtube short of a tiktok of a Tumblr post talking about how there’s no such thing as “glue”? Well this reminds me of that because who the fuck knows what these substances are?
Anyway I bought one and followed the directions and it didn’t work so I’m probably going to have to take my sink drain apart which isn’t going to be fun.
Took a look at one of those chemicals, and it was made of KOH, or potassium hydroxide. If there’s hair or fat stuck in the drain, the OH- ion should deal with them. I suppose NaOH should be fine as well.
The one I used didn’t, and I’ve been warned against trying again with something different in case the chemicals react badly. Now, my drain isn’t entirely blocked, it’s just slow. So I think it’s clear. But think in one hand, shit in the other and see which fills up faster.
It isn’t clear if it is draining slowly. You need something to physically remove the obstruction and something like this works really well for hair and might work for fatty stuff in a kitchen sink.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/FlexiSnake-Plastic-Drain-Stick/50257883
If it doesn’t work, at least it was cheap.
As others have suggested, mechanical cleaning is usually a good idea. However, if that doesn’t work, the blockage is in a hard-to-reach location which requires chemicals.
If at least some water flows through, it should flush out all the old chemicals. With enough water and time, it should be fine. Reading up on the previous chemical should help you determine if it’s compatible with another product.
The chemical I found is a base, which means it’s compatible with other bases. However, pouring acid into it will heat up and melt plastic pipes, so it’s a good idea to know your chemicals.
Also, chemical reactions take time. Decomposing hair and fat won’t happen instantly. When using drain cleaner, I usually let it sit for an hour or two before flushing with water.