[waves]

I unclogged the bathroom sink.

Sounds great, huh? Except I forgot to turn on the vent, before I started.

Result: bathroom full of caustic fumes... along with my nose and windpipes.

[Mari]

Good news. You took care of that sink.





Bad news. There are nasty fumes.



EWWW.





M

[bizi]

I am sorry for your nasty fumes.
bizi

[Brokenfriend]

Yes. It can happen. It sounds like you needed a gas mask. One good thing to know is that it was in your families house,and not the public.

At the store where I use to work,the owner of the business knew that she could rely on me to do special cleaning assignments for her. I used allot of bleach,and my eye's would start burning sometimes. I'd poor alcohol onto areas that I was cleaning sometimes. If no one cleaned,the place would get nasty very quick,and stinky. I used masks,gloves,mops,and brushes. I sometimes even bought my own cleaning tools. I also had tools for fixing things if I could.

If no one would clean the floors in the back rooms,there would be wheel marks,and foot prints where the customers where. Mice seem to show up when the place is not straightened up.

I had fellow employees running out of a room with their eye's burning from the bleach. There was this real strong cleaning liquid that would give me nose bleeds sometimes. My fellow employees where glad that I did the cleaning. I've smelled some of the worst things on earth,especially if a decaying milk product where involved. No one could get the teenage part timers to do anything. I had about 20 jobs that I did in the store. I was constantly on the move. BF

[TBI/PTSD]

Waves....you sound handy, I like to be handy too. Sorry you got a stink blast to the face. I am guessing the fumes were chemical? There is an odor that emits from one of my drains. I have dumped drano down there, took apart the PVC U der the sink and cleaned the joint down there....nothing, can't figure it out. Anywho...take care of yourself by protecting yourself from smelly stuff!


I hung new curtain rods yesterday so I decided to wash and iron my white sheers under the heavier curtains. Well against my moms advice, I use tap water in my iron instead of purified or distilled so guess who had brown iron funk on their curtains? I had to wash them and super clean my iron, it was a rainy day and a nice thing to do. The central air conked out so I also got to buy a brand new central air conditioner...yeah me. Funny because I am selling this joint. Isn't that the way things happen?

Have a good day all.

[waves]

Hi All,

Thanks for your responses. Yes it was nasty, but come down to it, it could have been worse, I suppose.

TBI/PTSD the fumes were chemical, yes -- from the chemical I was using. When I said "caustic fumes", I meant that in the true chemical sense: we use 100% pure anhydrous sodium hydroxide, a.k.a. caustic soda, to clear drains. You pour hot water down with it, and it dissolves instantly, becoming a potent corrosive agent. Some vaporizes as you pour to produce a vapor that chows flesh.

Caustic soda is simple, fast, and effective. Butcha gotta have ventilation while you use it!

I turned on the vent afterwards but even so the bathroom would not air out. (Bathroom has no window). I ended up shutting my dad in his room and opening up the entire house, with fans on, to cleanse the entire place out. Thank goodness it was not a hot day, so I could do this.

It was ok in the end. I must not have got too much in my face because my eyes did not burn. I mostly coughed for a while. I seriously felt like a dumb sht for doing that. I am sensitive to many chemicals -- not just corrosive ones. Even small amounts of some things can bother me a lot. A gas mask would not be a bad idea for me.

waves

[marcusdolby]

Originally Posted by waves

I unclogged the bathroom sink.

Sounds great, huh? Except I forgot to turn on the vent, before I started.

Result: bathroom full of caustic fumes... along with my nose and windpipes.

Run like hell.

[Brokenfriend]

Hey Waves. I've never heard of sodium hydroxide. I looked it up on Wikipedia. I learned that there was a worldwide production of it in 2004.

It sounds powerful,and effective. It sounds like it sends up a invisible mushroom cloud of a combination of volatile organic compounds of dissolving hair,and other drain materials,by a inorganic compound of lye,and caustic soda.

I read that it could be poisonous from touching,or inhaling it.

If I where you I'd buy the appropriate 3M respirator,or a gas mask,and gloves. BF

[waves]

Steve,

I studied this stuff back in Chem -- I know it is powerful. We don't use huge amounts though, and we do use lots of water. Fwiw, it is sold as drain cleaner here and comes with complete directions.

Also, we don't let the drains get completely clogged ... we clear them when they start running too slowly. This is much safer because everything goes down, it does not sit there gurgling and spitting back lots of fumes from the drain... The fumes are not strong, nor abundant, or we would not even use it.

I suspect the "fumes" in our case are mostly plain sodium hydroxide vapor, as it is an ionic solution (in water, the sodium ions and the hydroxide ions are pulled apart). Once it interacts with organic material the resulting compounds are 1) much heavier 2) in a less energetic state, and thus far less likely to be vaporized or even carried by vapor. I could see the the production of a mushroom-cloud as you suggest, by sheer physical propulsion of various substances out of a drain that were completely obstructed. I think the likelihood of this is greatly lessened when the drain does run to start with -- and is rapidly cleared. I run hot water the entire time.

Sodium hydroxide fumes are toxic -- it is true. They should not be inhaled, true. The concern however depends on the quantity, concentration, and length of exposure. Not a lot of vapor is produced, but ventilation is a MUST nonetheless. I usually turn the vent on before I start, then leave immediately, closing the door behind me. The actual vapor-producing part takes only a few seconds, so that is how long I am exposed.

I do wear gloves the entire time I handle this substance even before water gets involved. I do not touch the dry stuff because our skin is always very slightly damp -- enough to dissolve it, and activate it. Household gloves are enough protection... if I got splashed, I'd rinse them immediately so they don't get eaten through. Splashing is highly unlikely because, as I said, we never wait until the drain is completely clogged.

I understand your concern... I'd love a gas mask for when we use some noxious product in the house that triggers my cough... ironically, the products that do that are not particularly dangerous. As far as the sodium hydroxide goes, as long as I use the vent, using it on the drain is not problematic. In the incident I had, I forgot to turn on the vent. When that happens, it is a pain, but it can be dealt with.

Don't worry. I am very careful.

--------------------

A little tidbit for you: did you know that sodium hydroxide is used in some cosmetic hair removal creams?: LOL. It burns hair off but not skin. The trick is in the concentration.

waves